


Fallout

by luckandillusions



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Rewrite, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Love/Hate, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, Romance, Science Fiction, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 92,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckandillusions/pseuds/luckandillusions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maia Farrin was a thief the Ark didn't think they'd ever catch, that is until someone close to her turned her in. When Maia is taken to Earth with the rest of the 100, she thinks she's been given the chance to start over. Instead, she finds the ghost of the past she hoped to leave behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Earth, we were on Earth. I never thought I’d ever be able to say that. I was the first person from the second level of the drop ship to get out of my seat. I ran to the hatch and tossed it open. “How’s it going down there?” Another girl called out, running up behind me. “Let’s go!” She urged. I grinned at her and descended the ladder. 

The first level had already started to move around and most of them where standing in front of the door already. A blonde stood at the front of the group. “We can’t just open the door, we don’t know what’s out there,” she argued.

“Well we can’t just stay in here!” Someone yelled back. 

“Open the door!” Another person added.

As the door was lowered, a girl pushed her way to the front. When she turned towards the blonde I recognized her. “Octavia, you’re ok,” I mumbled. I started to walk through the crowd towards her when I saw him. I stopped in my tracks.

“You mind? I haven’t seen my sister in over a year,” Bellamy said. He walked right past me without even looking at me. I backed into the crowd quickly, before he noticed me. 

“That’s the girl they found in the floor!” Someone said. I wanted to run and give Octavia a hug; I hadn’t seen her in a year either. 

“Let’s give them something else to remember you by,” Bellamy told her. “Being the first person to set foot on Earth in a hundred years.”

Octavia smiled and turned towards the open door. After a moment she jumped to the ground. “We’re back, bitches!”

The next few minutes were chaos as the 100 flooded out of the drop ship. I all but forgot about the Blakes as I was pushed forward with the crowd and out into the forest. Everyone was yelling and cheering and hugging each other. I felt the urge to run, so I did. 

In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best idea but it felt amazing to be so free. I’d always loved running on the track and treadmills on the Ark, but that was nothing to running in the wide-open spaces of Earth.

When I got tired, I stopped. I sat down on a bed of moss and leaned back against a tree. I looked around and took in the exotic pink and purple flowers that dotted the landscape and sighed. I was on Earth. I was home.

OoOoO

For the next few weeks I avoided camp, the only reason I snuck in was to steal food or blankets or whatever else I needed. I never strayed too far. There were grounders in the area, I’d seen them near camp and nearly decided to move back in. Fortunately I didn’t, camp was turning into a dictatorship and Bellamy Blake was running the show.

I learned important information from a couple of girls who liked to gossip, they told me about the guy who got speared by a grounder and that Bellamy was forcing everyone to take off their wristbands. I kept mine on until one day it shocked me and popped right off. I never let the girls see me slip back out of camp because I didn’t want anyone looking for me. I was doing all right by myself.

At least I was until the storm hit. Octavia had gone missing and I was looking for her, but the farther I got into the woods and the more it rained, the less I knew where I was. Finally I heard voices up ahead. I walked through the trees quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible.

When I reached the group, I realized it was Bellamy and a few of his goons. At least I could follow them back to camp and the safety of the drop ship. When I got closer I noticed they weren’t alone. Two of the guys had ahold of a grounder. He looked tough and I wondered how’d they managed to take him down.

One of the guys kicked the grounder in the ribs. “This is going to be fun.” As we got closer to camp I was forced to step out of the trees. I cringed for the grounder as he was pushed around.

For the first time since reaching Earth I was within a few feet of Bellamy. Looking at him it was hard to reconcile the Bellamy I’d known before with this one. 

As we walked into the drop ship I finally got the courage to speak, though I was sure Bellamy had already realized I was there. “Bellamy, stop,” I called. One of the guys carrying the grounder glanced at me but Bellamy didn’t turn around. “This isn’t you.”

He climbed up the ladder and pushed up the hatch. He and his guys lifted the grounder to the second level and I followed them. “Damn it, Bell, look at me.”

“Who is she?” One of the guys asked.

“Maia Farrin,” I told him.

Bellamy turned around and looked at the others, but avoided me all together. “You can see her.”

“Yeah, she’s been tailing us for the past ten minutes.”

I stared at him. “Did you think I was a ghost or something? Well, surprise. I’m alive. No thanks to you.”

“I thought you were dead.”

“They just threw me in jail. If you had stuck around after you turned me in you would have known that. But you didn’t stick around. You ran, like a coward. Didn’t want to see me hate you, I suppose.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late, Bell.”

“We’ve been on the ground for two weeks, why are you just now coming after me?”

“You think I’m here to kill you? I’d like to think I’m a little cleverer than that. I don’t want to kill you. I may hold a grudge, but I’m not a murderer. Just like you aren’t a torturer.”

“So you came to save me from crossing a line?” 

The hatch was thrown open again and Octavia climbed up the ladder. She saw the grounder where the others had tied him up. “He saved my life, Bellamy! You can’t do this!” She whirled on us and her next sentence died on her lips. “Maia?”

“The one and only.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“But I’m not.”

“The two of you need to leave,” Bellamy said. “I’m trying to save a kid’s life.” 

When neither of us made a move to leave, Bellamy nodded for a couple of the guys to drag us to the hatch and force us down. “I hate him.”

“And he loves you,” I murmured. “How’ve you been, Octavia?”

“I’ve been better. But where’ve you been? Why haven’t I seen you?”

“I wasn’t exactly keen on running into your brother after what he did to me. Not to mention he’s gotten a little power crazy since the landing. I figured it was better to lay low.”

“Until today.”

“I heard you’d gone missing and I was out looking for you. I ended up getting caught in the storm and I ran into Bellamy and those other guys and followed them back here. If it hadn’t been for that I’d probably still be going it on my own.”

“People mentioned things going missing, that was you wasn’t it? You were always a great thief.”

“The best.” I smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Octavia.”

“How are you still alive?”

I shrugged. “Just lucky I guess.” I pulled up my shirt to reveal the scar across my abdomen. “Got a nifty scar though.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. Bell thought he was going to save you, but clearly it was just bad news for both of us.” 

“Octavia!” A girl called from the other room.

“Go. I’ll be around.”

OoOoO

The storm finally passed and I was about to head out. “Maia, wait,” Bellamy called. I stopped but didn’t turn around. “Can we talk?” 

I turned around slowly. “Sure, let’s have a nice little chat.”

“You’re mad.”

“You turned me in! I have every right to be angry with you!”

“I hated myself for it. I started seeing you everywhere, like my conscious was catching up to me.”

“I figured that when you asked your guys if they could see me. You’ve really gone off the deep end, haven’t you?”

“Seeing your girlfriend die right in front of you has that effect on people.”

“Except you didn’t see me die, you turned around and walked away.”

“I shouldn’t have done it, I know that.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You feel bad about it, so that should make it all ok? I loved you, Bellamy! I would have done anything for you!”

“Anything, except saving my sister.”

“I would have gotten her out of there if you asked me too! I was queen of getting into places I wasn’t supposed to be. I could have stolen someone’s key card, or climbed in through the vents, I could have brought her back to you. But you never asked.”

“They said if I brought you to them they’d let her go. They told me they already knew who you were, but if I brought you in first they’d make a trade. I didn’t think I had a choice.”

“If you’d just told me that, I would have told you they were lying! They didn’t know who I was, and they were never going to let Octavia go.” I shook my head. “You know, I got lucky. My eighteenth birthday was the day they sent us down here. I should have been floated but I got a second chance. I got down here expecting a fresh start, but there you were standing in between Earth and me. I’m not the ghost, you are, and frankly I wish you were still dead.”

OoOoO

I sat in the woods, in my favorite spot with the odd-looking flowers and soft, mossy ground. It had been my haven away from the others since that first day. A branch snapped and I sighed. “I told you I wasn’t a murder, but I’m seriously beginning to reconsider that.”

“Whoa, I’m sorry I followed you,” a guy said. I looked over my shoulder; it wasn’t Bellamy or any of his guys. He held his hands up in surrender.

“Sorry, thought you were someone else.”

“Bellamy? I heard you yelling at him. Actually, everyone did. Octavia asked me to come looking for you.”

“Oh, well, you can tell her I’m fine.”

“Do you mind if I sit down for a second?” He asked. I shrugged and he sat down on the moss next to me. “I’m Jasper.”

“You’re the guy who got speared by the grounder, right?” He nodded. “I’m Maia.”

“I know, you’re Robin Hood.”

I laughed. “What?”

“You stole medical supplies to give to people who needed more than their allotment, right?” 

“And food, and tech, and a lot of other stuff, yeah.”

“See, Robin Hood.”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“You helped my mom when she got an infection. There was nothing the med staff could do; she’d used up her ration. They were just going to leave her to die, but then the antibiotics she needed showed up in our apartment one morning. She ended up being ok.”

“Yeah, um, glad to help. That’s what I do.”

“Don’t be so modest, you helped a lot of people on the ark.”

“Well, there was never anyone to help me. I just wanted to make sure other people didn’t lose their families too.”

“I guess you’ve known Octavia and Bellamy for a while, then.”

“Yeah, I lived next door. When I was eight I was climbing through the air ducts, it was kind of a hobby, and I saw Octavia in the Blake’s apartment. Not too long after that my mom got sick and died, my dad was floated for trying to steal meds for her. The Blakes were nice to me. I tried to help them out when I could, they needed extra rations, you know. I started dating Bellamy when I was fifteen, and well, I guess you and everyone else heard how that ended.”

“Bellamy’s a dick.”

I laughed. “That’s the understatement of the year.”

“Want to come back to camp? I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

“I’d prefer to be alone,” I told him. He nodded but didn’t turn to go. “Octavia told you to bring me back, didn’t she?” He nodded again. “Ok, fine, but she’s not getting me to stay.”

OoOoO

“Listen, you cannot keep me in here, I’ll go crazy,” I told Octavia.

“And if you stay out there you’ll die.”

“It’s not like I’m completely isolated, I can come back whenever I want,” I told her.

“Except whenever you want is never.”

“I have to come back to camp for supplies,” I protested.

“We’re closing camp down,” Bellamy said. I hadn’t even realized he was listening to me and Octavia argue. “No one goes out without a damn good reason. End of argument.”

I glared at him. Octavia pulled me away before I could decide if I wanted to yell at him or hit him. “Now, I can finally introduce you to everyone.”

“I know who all your friends are, I haven’t been living under a rock.”

“I get that you don’t like people but I am going to force you to play nice. Come on, do it for me.”

I sighed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.” She pushed open the flap of a tent and nodded for me to go inside. One guy was lying on a cot, must have been the kid poisoned by the grounders, he looked all right now, a girl sat next to him. A blonde who’d argued about opening the door was talking to Jasper and some other guy.

“Good, you’re all here. That makes this easy, before Maia runs off again,” Octavia said as she came in behind me. They all looked over at us. Octavia ran though a quick introduction, “You already met Jasper, that’s his friend Monty. She’s Clarke, the doctor’s daughter, and that’s Finn and Raven. Raven was the girl who came down on her own, she fixed the radio.”

“I’m Maia,” I said uncomfortably. I looked at Octavia. “Can I go now?”

Monty hit Jasper. “That’s Robin Hood.”

“Dude, I know, we’re friends,” Jasper told him.

“I didn’t expect her to be so hot.” To me he said, “I can’t believe the Ark ever caught you.” 

“That makes two of us.”

“What do you mean Robin Hood?” Clarke asked. I cringed at the nickname again.

“She’s the girl that stole supplies and gave them to people who needed them,” Jasper explained. “Steal from the rich, give to the poor, ya know?”

“You were a thief.”

“Not just any thief, the best thief,” Monty added.

“Did you ever stop to consider the consequences for what you were doing? Do you have any idea how many people got in trouble for what you did?” She asked.

“Do you have any idea how many people are still alive because of me?” I countered. Normally I would avoid talking about it, but I felt the need to defend myself.

“You helped Finn get extra rations for me when my mom traded mine,” Raven said. “Thanks.”

Clarke looked between Raven and me before shaking her head and ducking out of the tent. “What’s her problem?” Octavia asked. “Anyway, now you’ve met everyone worth meeting. You can leave if you want.”

“I um…”

“We could use some help cleaning up after the storm,” Raven said. “If you want to help.”

“Yeah, I mean, where else am I going to go?”

She smiled. “Alright, well, let’s put you to work.”

Octavia laughed as Raven pulled me out of the tent. “Have fun!”


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Clarke stepped out of the tent where she’d been talking to the Chancellor, I ambushed her. “I couldn’t help but overhear the council telling you about a supply bunker.”

“You mean you were eavesdropping?”

“Accidentally.” She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, fine, I may have been eavesdropping. But, come on, you need someone to go with you and I have cabin fever.”

“I do need help, but not from you.”

“I’m good at stuff like this! You can disapprove of my lifestyle, but you have to admit I can be useful.”

“Fine, you can come. Just give me a minute. Get us some water or something.” She walked toward the drop ship. I ducked into her tent and grabbed her canteen and went to fill it up. When I came out of the water tent, Clarke was walking towards me with Bellamy at her side.

“No way.”

“He’s coming with us,” Clarke told me. “If you want to go, you have to put up with him. I don’t need you.” I groaned.

“Don’t look so excited, Maia, you might get a reputation for being friendly.”

I rolled my eyes. “Can we just get out of here?” I handed her the canteen.

“Yeah, let’s go.” We headed outside of the wall and into the woods. As soon as the sounds of the rest of the hundred had faded away I felt so much better. I walked a few paces behind Bellamy and Clarke so I didn’t have to talk to them.

We’d been walking for probably an hour or so when Bellamy pulled some rations out of his bag. “Hungry?”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. Clarke rolled her eyes and took the packet from him and threw it to me.

Clarke glanced at the massive backpack Bellamy had brought. “You realize this is just a day trip, right?” 

“A lot can happen in a day. It’s always best to be prepared.”

We came to a clearing where the ruins of buildings were spread in front of us. “Well, it’s supposed to be around here somewhere.” 

“You really think it hasn’t been touched since the was?” Bellamy asked. 

Clarke shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

“If we split up we can cover more ground,” I suggested. Bellamy and I turned in opposite directions and Clarke went straight down the ledge. I weaved around the ruins looking for any sort of door that might lead to an underground bunker. The longer I looked, the more distracted I got. From here I could barely see Clarke. If I turned away from her, I could pretend like I was alone. I popped open the packet Clarke had given me and snacked as I walked.

There was a rustling in the bushes behind me and I jumped. When I turned around no one was there. I figured it was probably just an animal, but you could never be too careful. I headed back towards Clarke. “Find anything?” She called, as I got closer.

“No, what about you?” I asked. She shook her head and started to walk towards me. When she stepped down there was a hollow thump, we both stopped and she stamped her foot down again.

“Help me clear up these weeds.” We knelt down and started pulling at the dead weeds that had buried the door. “Bellamy!” Clarke called up the hill. He looked down. “We found it.”

Bellamy hopped down next to us as I pulled up the last of the weeds. Clarke pushed down on the door handle but it didn’t budge. “Watch your feet,” Bellamy warned. We both stepped out of the way and he hit the handle a few times with his axe till it loosened up and Clarke could open it. 

The inside of the bunker was dark and musty smelling and as we descended the stairs we ran into spider web after spider web. “This is disgusting,” I mumbled.

“So much for living down here,” Clarke said. She handed each of us a flashlight from her bag and we started to search the tunnels. I popped open a few containers, some were empty and the ones that weren’t, were wet.

“Any food down here is either ruined or gone,” I told her. She opened another crate; this one was full of blankets. “Those’ll be useful if we can find some more of them.”

“Damn it,” Bellamy said. “We need food and tents and-“ He kicked over a bucked full of water which spilled across the floor. He stopped and looked down.

“What?” Clarke said, walking towards him.

“Guns.”

OoOoO

Bellamy set up a target and started testing the guns. He handed one to Clarke who took it reluctantly. “You may not like it but you need to learn to defend yourself,” Bellamy told her. He turned towards me. “You too.”

I took a step back. “I’m not touching one of those.”

“There are nonlethal places to shoot someone,” he said.

“And there are a lot of lethal ones too,” I said. “Have fun, I’m going to keep looking. These tunnels go on forever.” Before I even got down the hallway I could hear the shots. I ran, wanting to put as much distance between them and me as I could.

I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes until I ran into something. When I opened them, I screamed. Standing in front of me was a man. He was wearing a guard’s uniform and had a buzz cut, and I recognized him immediately. I began to retreat. He was facing the wall and slowly he turned towards me, half his face was missing exposing his jaw. I screamed again and backed up quicker until I ran into the wall. 

“You did this,” he said. His mouth moved oddly due to the hole in his cheek but his voice was strong and clear. I shook my head fiercely. “You killed me.”

“I didn’t want to,” I whimpered.

“You should have died, they sliced you open but that bitch put you back together again.”

“I panicked! It was self defense!” I screamed at him. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“No one made you grab my gun. No one made you pull the trigger. You can blame Bellamy for what you did, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a killer.”

“I know! I know what I did! Just let me go, please!”

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done.” He lunged at me and I sprinted down the hall towards the door up to the clearing. I could hear the guard behind me and I clambered up the stairs into the fresh air.

When I turned around he was still there, but in the crisp air I realized how crazy I was behaving. “This isn’t real, you aren’t real!”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m real, I’ll haunt you forever. You killed me.” I pressed my eyes together and when I opened them he was gone. I heard shouting, this time I had a feeling I wasn’t imagining things. I ran towards the sound and found Bellamy on his knees.

“Bellamy?”

He turned towards me but he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking behind me. I turned but there was no one there. “Kill me!” He yelled. 

“Bellamy, whatever you’re seeing it isn’t real!” I yelled at him. 

“I’ve hurt so many people,” he said. “I’ve suffered enough. Kill me!” 

“Well since you asked so nicely,” someone said. A guy I’d seen back at camp stepped out of the trees. He lunged at Bellamy and I panicked. I ran towards him and threw my entire body weight at him. He stumbled backwards and dropped his gun, but he shoved me to the ground and I landed hard on my shoulder. 

A sharp pain spread through my back and I tried to roll over. Bellamy and the kid were fighting and I searched for something to help. My eyes landed on the gun and I reached for it, stretching out my arm hurt but I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pulled it towards me. My hands were shaking as I aimed the gun but I pulled the trigger as soon as I got a clear shot, only nothing happened.

I dropped the gun just as Clarke ran up and fired her own gun. She missed but it was enough of a distraction for Bellamy to grab a fallen bullet and drive it into his attacker’s neck. Bellamy shoved the guy off of him and sat up. He walked towards the tree where Clarke was already sitting. Unwilling to push myself to my feet, I just turned my body to face them. We were all breathing heavily and for a minute no one spoke.

“You’re ok,” Clarke told Bellamy. 

“No, I’m not. My mother raised me to be better than this, to be good. All I do is hurt people.” He looked at me and I held his gaze. “I can’t apologize to anyone else. They’re all dead. I’m so sorry.”

“I killed a man, Bell. I’m a killer because of you.”

“It wasn’t your fault, blame me.”

“I do,” I told him. “But, I was going to kill that kid, I pulled the trigger, for you.”

“None of us would have survived here without you,” Clarke told him. “We need you, you can’t just run.”

I looked between Bellamy and Clarke. “You were going to run?” He nodded. I didn’t have the energy to move very far, so I shoved his leg angrily. “You can’t do that! You can’t just leave!” 

“Why? Octavia hates me, you hate me, what’s the point?” 

“You want forgiveness? Then stick around and earn it!”

“I don’t deserve it.” 

“Stop pitying yourself. You screwed up. That doesn’t mean you aren’t forgivable. Do you think I would have tried to save your life if I thought you were beyond redemption?” I asked. After a beat I added, “And I don’t hate you. I want to, but I don’t.”

“It’s our responsibility to keep everyone alive, you can’t just abandon them,” Clarke said. “That’s a good first step towards redemption, right?” Clarke looked at me, urging me to agree, and I nodded. “You have to come back.”

“Jaha will kill me when he gets here,” he said. I didn’t know what he’d done but I was sure I’d rather not find out.

“We’ll figure it out,” Clarke told him.

“Can we figure it out later?” 

“Whenever you’re ready,” she said. 

OoOoO

After we rested we went back down to the bunker to get the rest of the guns. Clarke found bags big enough for us to fill up and we each carried a duffle back to camp. Back at camp everyone looked a little out of it. Whatever had caused the three of us to hallucinate, had clearly affected them too.

“The grounder’s gone!” Someone yelled.

“Let them come,” Bellamy said. “We’ve been afraid of them for too long.” We all opened the bags and showed everyone the guns.

“These are for protection, they aren’t toys,” Clarke said. “And when the drop ships come we need to be prepared to turn them in to the guard.”

“Tomorrow we start training,” Bellamy said. “Everyone needs to be able to defend themselves.” He looked at me. “Everyone.” A chill ran down my spine at the thought of firing another gun but I knew he was right. I had to put aside everything that had happened on the Ark if I was going to survive. Down here on Earth it was kill or be killed.

OoOoO

I found Octavia later, alone, wrapped in a blanket. “Hey.” 

She turned around and patted the ground next to her. She opened her blanket and I sat down next to her and pulled it around my shoulders. “Have fun out there?” She asked. 

“Something like that. Your brother is in there talking to Jaha.”

“You think the chancellor will pardon Bell for shooting him?” She asked.

“Bellamy shot the chancellor?” I asked, surprised.

“To come down here with me.” She rolled her eyes.

“He loves you, that’s why he does it all. As stupid as it may seem.” She just grunted. “That grounder, you set him free, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with a tiny smile.

“Um hmm. How’d you do it?”

“Oh come on, you’d never reveal your secrets.”

I laughed. “I taught you well.” She hugged me and I rubber her shoulder. “You ok?” 

“Maybe. I don’t know yet. What about you?”

“Maybe.”

She laid her head on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here, Maia.”

“I am too.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, Maia!” Monty yelled from outside my tent. 

“MAIA!” Jasper screamed. I jumped and whirled around. He peeked his head in and grinned. 

“What the hell, Jasper?”

“We have a job for you,” he told me.

I made a face. “Don’t worry, you’ll like this one,” Monty assured me.

“Probably,” Jasper added.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“Come with us. Don’t say anything about it.” They escorted me out of my tent and to their tent across camp.

“Ok?” I asked.

“So, you know that today is Unity Day...” I nodded. Monty produced a huge jug. “We want you to be the first to test our moonshine.”

“This is our first batch on Earth,” Jasper mumbled.

“Hit me.” Monty grinned before pouring some into his water bottle. He presented it to me dramatically. I took a small sip and scrunched my nose up. “Well…it isn’t terrible.” 

“It’s better if you drink it fast,” Monty admitted. I tipped the bottle up and chugged what was left.

I shrugged. “You’re right.”

“More?”

“Hell yes.”

OoOoO

I popped my head into Raven’s tent. “How’s it going?” I asked. She turned around and motioned for me to come in. She had a table full of bullets in front of her.

She shrugged. “It’s going alright.”

“Did Bellamy ask you to help?”

“No, I volunteered. I figured I needed something to keep myself busy. How long are you going to let him think you hate him?”

“Who I said I didn’t still hate him?”

“Your face right now.”

I shrugged. “How much time is adequate for this kind of thing? A week or two?”

“You won’t make it. I’d bet on that.”

“I’d take that bet, but I know myself too well.”

She sighed. “Is it because we haven’t shaken the feeling that we’re going to die?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, you’ve seen it. It’s open season on relationships.”

“I’m not sure I would consider a lot of what’s been going on relationships.”

She shrugged. “You know what I mean.” 

“I missed quite a bit while I was off doing my own thing. Finn’s your boyfriend, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“You suppose? That doesn’t sound very confident.”

“He was before he came here, at least.”

“But then Clarke happened?” I guessed. “I saw them together once, outside of camp.”

She nodded. “I get it, he didn’t know I was coming. But he didn’t even tell her about me.”

“Well that was…uncool.”

“To put it lightly.” She looked back at her table. “I should get back to checking these.”

“Need any help?”

“Nah, have fun at the celebration.”

OoOoO

Within a few hours the moonshine had been distributed among the other kids and the Unity Day celebration was in full swing. I saw Bellamy on the ramp to the drop ship and sauntered over to him. “Oh no! Did I miss the pageant?” I asked.

He snorted. “You always hated that stupid pageant, even when you were in it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, that pageant was so amazing. I mean the story of Unity Day is just incredibly touching, you know?” I ranted dramatically. He stared at me and I burst into laughter. “You know me too well. That story is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard, and that’s saying something considering you’ve been known to spout some serious bullshit.”

I slung my arm around his waist and he put his arm around my shoulders. “You seen my sister?” 

“Nope,” I said popping the ‘p’. Truthfully, I knew all about Octavia’s little trips beyond the wall to visit the grounder Bellamy had tortured.

“How much have you had to drink?” 

“I dunno, quite a bit. It’s done its job though.”

“Has it?”

“Well, I don’t hate you right now.” I laughed but he didn’t. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the party. “Come on, loosen up!” 

“Can’t.” 

I groaned. “You are absolutely no fun.”

“You should go, mingle with your people. I hear you’re quite the celebrity.” 

“Yeah, but a celebrity has to know who her true friends are.”

“And who would those be?” He asked, humoring me.

“Well, Octavia, for sure. Maybe Raven. Jasper and Monty too. Clarke, when she isn’t being a bitch. And you.”

“We’re friends?” He said skeptically. 

“Oh, please, Bellamy. You didn’t think I actually hated you still, did you? I mean I did. But I guess I forgave you when you were drugged up and being all angsty.” I frowned. “I’m going to regret telling you that tomorrow. I meant to drag this out a little longer.”

“Can we go somewhere to talk?”

“Your tent is right there.” I pulled him towards it. I pushed backwards through the flaps and came to an abrupt halt, Bellamy crashed into me. We were chest to chest and I tilted my head up so we were looking at each other. “You sure you just want to talk?” 

“Um.” I leaned towards him and pressed my lips to his. I leaned back and looked at him. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something. Instead he shook his head and put both his hands on my face and pulled my face back to his. As we kissed I ran my fingers through his hair and tangled them in his hair. 

His hands left my face and trailed down my sides to the hem of my top. I let go of him long enough for him to pull my shirt over my head and toss it on the ground, and then do the same with his. 

I giggled. “Well it’s been a while since we’ve done this.” We both set down on the pile of blankets that served as his bed. I pushed him back so he was leaning on his elbows and straddled him. I kissed him and ran my hands down his chest and down to his belt. Before I could get very far I heard someone step into the tent. 

“There you are, I thought you were being the responsible one tonight?” Clark said sounding very annoyed. I was beginning to realize that was the way she always sounded. I looked over her shoulder at her. When she registered who I was, her eyes widened a tiny bit. “Good, I can probably use both of you.” 

“What’s going on?” Bellamy asked. He lightly nudged me and I reluctantly rolled off of him. I reached for my shirt and pulled it back over my head. 

“Finn’s arranged a meeting with the grounders,” she told him.

“He did what?” I asked. “How?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t ask a lot of questions.” To Bellamy she said, “He wants me to go alone but I don’t trust them.”

“Smart,” he said curtly.

She shook her head. “I need you to follow us, in case something goes wrong. Bring guns.”

He nodded. “Yeah, ok. Give me a minute.”

She nodded. “I’ll leave you a trail.” She left without saying anything else.

“Stay here,” Bellamy told me.

“No way.” 

“Even if you weren’t drunk, you can’t shoot and I’m not letting you go in there unarmed.”

“Suddenly I don’t feel so intoxicated. Clark has a sobering affect on people, unfortunately.” 

“Fine, if you’re coming, let’s go.” I followed him to Raven’s tent, where she was still diligently working on the bullets, now with Jasper by her side. They both turned when we entered. Raven glanced between Bellamy and me and smirked. 

Bellamy reached for a box of bullets and she swatted his hand away. “If you need bullets, I wouldn’t take those. I haven’t checked them yet. Here,” she handed him a few clips. “These work. What do you need them for, anyway?”

“Your boyfriend either just made a very good decision or a very stupid one,” I told her. 

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“Jasper, you’re coming with us. You handled yourself well against the grounder,” Bellamy told him.

Raven handed me more bullets. “Told you, you wouldn’t last a week.”

“Shut up, I was drunk,” I mumbled.

“Uh huh. You sure did sober up fast for someone who was drunk enough to make out with their ex.”

“If you two are done chitchatting, we can head out,” Bellamy said. We both nodded and turned around. Bellamy started out the tent.

“Wait, what about Clarke?” Jasper asked.

“She’s already with Finn,” I told him. He nodded and followed Bellamy.

“Surprise, surprise,” Raven said bitterly.

I gave her an apologetic look, before following Jasper. “We should hurry.”

OoOoO

Just after daybreak we reached the end of Clarke’s trail. We were near a bridge, which, other than being covered in plant life, looked fully intact. We headed towards the bank of the river to get a better view of the bridge.

I was the first person down the slope. Clarke and Finn both stood on the bridge, as did Octavia. I couldn’t say I was surprised to see her there, but I knew Bellamy would be upset. “Bell, I should probably tell you something. Octavia’s been seeing someone.”

“Is now really the time, Maia?”

“Yes, it is,” I insisted.

“Ok, fine, who is he?”

“Um,” Raven interrupted. “Just a guess, but I’m going with the grounder that she’s kissing right now.” I turned and sure enough, Octavia and the grounder were right there in plain sight.

“I guess we know how he escaped now,” Jasper mumbled.

“Ok, so, she’s been sneaking out of camp to see him since then,” I summed up. Quickly I added, “Don’t freak out.”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that is, Maia? How could you let her do that?” Bellamy asked angrily. 

“Octavia isn’t the same little girl you used to hide in the floor, and she’s never been my responsibility. I couldn’t stop her even if I wanted to.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me.”

“No, because I knew this is how you’d react.” I shook my head. “Your sister is alive and relatively happy, given the circumstances. That’s what matters here.”

“Guys, they’re here,” Raven said. At the other end of the bridge three grounders rode up on horses. After a few moments one of the grounders, a woman, dismounted and met Clarke in the middle of the bridge.

“Do you think it will work?” I asked, mostly to myself.

“Not a chance,” Bellamy mumbled.

“Maybe,” Raven said hopefully.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going well,” Jasper said.

I groaned. “I know Finn thought he was doing the right thing. Hell, if I thought peace was a possibility I’d be the first person to try to work with the grounders. But, to them we’re the bad guys, just because we thought everyone on Earth was dead.”

Jasper searched the trees and a look of panic washed over his face. “What?” Raven asked.

“Grounders, in the trees.” I looked but if there was someone there, they blended in with the trees. “No, no, no, this isn’t good.” Jasper stepped from our cover. “They’re going to shoot! Clarke, run!” He yelled. He opened fire on the grounders and grounders started firing arrows from the trees.

The woman on the bridge pulled a knife out and Bellamy shot her. She wasn’t injured badly and retreated to her horse. We all ran up the slope and towards camp. Clarke, Finn, and Octavia fell in behind us and we didn’t stop until we had reached our walls.

“I told you no guns!” Finn snapped at Clarke. 

“Yeah, and I told you we couldn’t trust the grounders. I was right,” Clarke retaliated.

“They were there to kill you,” Bellamy said.

“We don’t know that. Jasper shot first, we have no way of knowing if they were planning to shoot those arrows,” Finn said.

“You ruined everything,” Octavia said to Jasper, before storming back to camp.

“Either way, the point is they brought them,” I said. “They aren’t trustworthy.”

“And neither are we.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing?” Raven asked Finn.

“I tried, but you were busy making bullets for guns you shouldn’t have brought!”

“This is just going in circles!” I snapped. “It’s over. Whether or not it was the right thing is not the issue. The issue is what do we do about it now? They’ll be coming for us. We can’t be fighting each other, we have bigger battles ahead.”

“She’s right,” Bellamy said.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m not a part of this save the day dream team.” I turned back towards camp. “I’m going to check on Octavia.”

I found Octavia in the same spot she was always in. “Go away,” she mumbled. 

“Not happening,” I said, plopping down beside her.

“You’re on their side,” she accused. “You let them bring guns.”

“This is you brother we’re talking about. There’s no way I could have stopped him. Clarke didn’t even tell us Finn didn’t want her to have them, though I suppose it was implied. I wasn’t totally focused on the issue in that moment.”

“We could have worked something out, I know we could have.”

“Maybe. Maybe Clarke would have saved the day and by next week we all would have been making friendship bracelets with our new grounder buds. But here’s the deal, it didn’t happen. Blame Jasper or your brother or whoever, you can even blame me if you want, but you can’t forget what side you’re on. Other than your grounder-“

“Lincoln, his name is Lincoln.”

“Other than Lincoln, would any other grounder stick their necks out for you? We may screw things up sometimes, but our side is still your side.”

She was quiet for a minute. “He took an arrow for me.”

“Is he ok?”

“I think so.”

“Good. Octavia, I’m sorry if this changes things with Lincoln. I know you really care about him.”

She nodded. “I get what you’ve been saying, but I think I just need time to process things and to be alone for awhile.”

“And this time alone time extends to me too.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, well, you know I’m around if you change your mind.”

“I know.”

I found Bellamy waiting for me at my tent. I motioned for him to come inside. “How’s she holding up?” 

“She’s upset with all of us, she has a right to be. But, I think she’s going to be alright.”

“That’s good.” He made no move to leave; he just kept standing there.

“Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry for yelling at you before. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Maybe I did a little.”

“No, you were right. Octavia isn’t your sister; she’s your friend. I should be the one watching out for her and making sure she’s ok. I’ve been falling down on my job.”

“In your defense, she’s been pretty testy lately, makes it kinda hard to talk.”

“I should have tried harder.”

I nodded. “You can’t just be protective when it suits you.”

“I’m making it harder and harder for myself to earn her forgiveness.”

“I believe in you,” I assured him.

“Oh, and uh, about earlier…” He trailed off.

I stared at him blankly. “Earlier?”

“You know, in my tent?” I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, you’re right. There is plenty of time to talk about that later.”

“Are you sure you didn’t get into the moonshine after all?” He looked at me funny but I kept up the act.

“Well, get some sleep. Who knows when the grounders will make their move, we need to be ready.”

“Yeah, you too.” He nodded and started to leave. I took a step towards him. “Bell?”

He turned around. “Yeah?” 

I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodnight.”


	4. Chapter 4

I had been asleep when the exodus ship crashed but the next morning I heard all about it. From what I gathered, the Ark was sending soldiers to help us protect ourselves against the grounders’ attacks. Clarke’s mom, the doctor, was also on the ship.

“Aren’t you going to look at the crash sight with the others?” Monty asked me.

I shook my head. “No, it’s just the fighters and the leaders, I’m neither. I’m just Maia.”

“You’re Robin Hood.”

I had heard the nickname so many times I didn’t cringe anymore, but I still didn’t like it. “Yeah, well, that’s not worth much here.”

“If you’d stuck around after we landed you’d be in Clarke’s position now.”

“Maybe, but probably not. I’m not a leader, I’m just a girl.”

“If you say so.”

“I’m not bitter about not being asked to go. I told them I didn’t want to be in on their good-time gang, they’re just respecting that. Anyway, what are they going to find out there that they can’t tell me about later? It’s just going to be some debris and charred bones, if that.”

“Yeah, I guess. I feel bad for Clarke, there’s no way her mom made it.”

“Yeah, me too,” I said. “How’s Jasper been handling his newfound fame?”

“Pretty well, we got a new tent so that’s nice,” Monty told me.

“Ooh perks of befriending the town hero.”

“You’re one to talk, you showed up out of the blue and Bellamy just handed you one of the biggest tents. All because he felt bad.”

“Hey now, we’re all just doing what it takes to make it. I’m not going to apologize, I need my space.” He laughed. “Tell me when they get back, ok?” He nodded. I weaved through camp to where Jasper was entertaining an audience with the story of his heroic shot.

“I saw those grounders and instinct took over, I barely had time to panic,” Jasper was saying. He acted out shooting the grounders.

“That’s a lie,” I interrupted. “Raven and I thought you were going to have an aneurism.”

He grinned and pulled me into a bear hug. “Just keeping it interesting, Maia! You know how these things are, I’m sure your stories get bigger the more you tell them to.”

“I’m sure they would,” I said. He looked at his audience, as if to say see what I mean. “If I ever told them.” A few people laughed. I slung my arm around his waist and steered him away from the crowd. “Walk with me, friend.” A few people stepped towards us. “Alone.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few. Have to keep our royal highness happy,” he told them. I rolled my eyes.

“Listen Jasper, I get that you want to revel in your big moment for a little bit.”

“They love me!” 

“Yeah, I can see that. Just don’t let this all go to your head, ok?”

“You’re just jealous that you didn’t capitalize on your heroics when you had the chance,” he said it in a joking manner but his eyes told me that was really what he thought.

“That’s not it at all. I didn’t run around telling everyone about the things I did on the Ark, because that reduces the good I’ve done. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about me; I know how many lives I’ve saved. A quiet hero is better than an obnoxious one.”

“Now you’re calling me obnoxious?”

I groaned. “Jasper, I like you, you’re nice, and you’re funny. You don’t need a bunch of stupid jerks that barely noticed you before to be cool. Eventually your appeal will start to fade and their affection will go with it.”

“They’re my friends.”

“No, Monty is your friend. I’m your friend,” I reminded him. “And as your friend, I’m going to keep my distance until you get off your high horse. Because when your five minutes of fame is up, I don’t want to hate you, I want to be here to give you a hug.”

“Whatever, Maia.”

“Bye, Jasper.”

OoOoO

The others still hadn’t returned by nightfall, but someone else had. Not long after arriving Bellamy and Clarke had banished someone for causing a little girl to kill herself. The camp had been so crazy, no one noticed me in the walls when they’d kicked him out. After that I had stayed closer to camp until I was sure he was far enough away to not be a problem for me.

Everyone just stopped and stared at him, as he was dragged in. “That’s Murphy,” Monty said running up behind me. 

“Yeah, I know who he is.” I half expected someone from the crowd to try and kill him but no one made a move. In fact, no one made a move to do anything with him at all. “Take him inside the ship, keep guards on him! He looks bad now but we all know how dangerous he can be. The rest of you get back to work, this doesn’t concern you. Bellamy and Clarke should be back soon,” I ordered the guys holding him. Immediately everyone was moving again, following my orders.

Monty side eyed me. “Not a leader, my ass.”

“Nope, apparently just the only one who knows how to think when our leaders aren’t around.”

“You should probably go in there.”

“Why?”

“You may not like it, but for the time being, you’re in charge.”

I groaned but he was right. “As soon as Bellamy and Clarke get back send them my way.” He nodded and I headed into the ship. Murphy was sitting against the wall with the guards flanking him.

“Who are you?” He asked me.

“Not important. Why are you here?”

“Not important,” he mocked. 

“Really, that’s how you’re playing it? In case you didn’t notice, I have the upper hand here, would you like me to throw you back out and let the grounders deal with you.” 

“You wouldn’t do that, you need me to talk.”

“I don’t need anything from you, I’m not in charge here.”

He laughed, but it turned into a cough. “You don’t even have a gun.” I held out my hand and one of the guards put a gun in it.

“What was that?”

“You aren’t going to shoot me, you need me alive.”

“I told you, I don’t need you. Anyway, there a lot of nonlethal places to shoot someone.”

I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Bellamy, Finn and Clarke coming in. “What’s going on?” 

I lowered the gun. “Just making sure he doesn’t try anything.”

“He looks too injured to try anything,” Finn said.

“He’s well enough to be a jackass.”

“That’s just his personality,” Bellamy mumbled.

“We found him trying to sneak back into camp,” one of the guards said. I retreated to the side of the room and placed the gun back on the rack.

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere, I was running from the grounders,” Murphy told them.

“Did anyone see any grounders?” Bellamy asked the guards and then looked at me. “Did you send anyone out to look?”

“We didn’t see anyone,” one of the guards told him, before I was forced to answer.

“Alright then,” Bellamy said. He held up his gun and Finn jumped in front of him. 

“No! We’re not going to shoot him.”

“Finn’s right, once he’s better and we can find out what he knows, he’s gone,” Clarke said. She went over to Murphy and inspected him.

“Fine,” Bellamy said. He motioned for me to follow him out.

“Monty said you handled the situation well.”

“Yeah, I guess. They were just sort of standing there and no one else was going to speak up.”

“You were holding Murphy at gunpoint.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t really going to shoot him. But it was kind of fun to act like I was.”

“Look at you, Robin Hood.”

“Oh please, not you too.”

He laughed. “I’m just kidding. But seriously, if you change your mind about joining the – what did you call it? Oh right, the save the day dream team – we could always use another voice.”

“Yeah, well, I already have enough going on in my life without the added stress of being responsible for the rest of the hundred.”

“Like I said, if you change your mind.”

OoOoO

The next day I was walking to Raven’s tent when I saw one of the guards that had brought Murphy in start coughing up blood. Clarke and Raven walked past me. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“I think Murphy brought something back, don’t touch anyone we don’t know who’s infected,” Clarke told me. “And bring me Bellamy.” Clarke headed towards the ship and I went to Bellamy’s tent.

“Bell, something’s wrong. Clarke says people are getting sick, I think she’s got it too,” I told him.

“Did it come from Murphy?” He asked. 

“Yeah, that’s what she said.” 

We hurried to the ship where Clarke was questioning Murphy. She turned to face us when we came in. “We’ve been waiting for the grounders to make their move, well this is it, and Murphy is the weapon.”

“I didn’t know about this, I swear,” Murphy said. He looked worse than he had the day before.

“Like hell you didn’t,” Bellamy said, stepping towards him. I reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him back.

“It spreads through touch, you should keep your distance,” Clarke told him. “We need to quarantine. Get anyone who had contact with Murphy in here, now.”

“By now they could have each infected a dozen people,” I realized.

“Well we have to start somewhere,” she said. 

“Maia, you should go back to your tent. Stay away from everyone,” Bellamy told me. One of the guards who’d been with me earlier started coughing violently and then dropped. Clarke rushed to him and checked his pulse. 

“Is he dead?” I asked. 

She nodded. The other guard looked terrified that the same would happen to him. “Connor, who else was with you when you brought Bellamy in.”

“The first person to reach him was Octavia.”

I was out of the ship before anyone could say anything else, Bellamy was right behind me. We walked right in to Octavia’s tent and she jumped. “What do you want?”

“Yesterday, when you found Murphy, did you touch him?” I asked.

“What?” 

“Octavia, answer the question,” Bellamy pressed.

“Maybe? I probably did. What’s going on?” 

“There’s a virus, it’s bad. Clarke needs to look at you,” I told her. She stood up, and came with us without argument. She didn’t look sick and everyone else who’d been in contact with Murphy the day before was already showing serious symptoms.

Clarke was waiting for us inside. “Are you sick?” Octavia asked her. Clarke nodded.

“Is this a good idea?” I asked. “If Octavia isn’t sick, you could infect her.”

“I won’t touch her.” She held up a light and instructed Octavia to pull back her hair so she could look at her ears, and had her open her mouth. “She isn’t showing symptoms, yet. She should stay here, just in case.”

“No way, she’ll get sick just from looking at these people,” Bellamy argued.

“I’ll keep her on the third level with those that aren’t showing symptoms,” Clarke assured him. “Do you want to contain this or not?” After a moment he nodded. “Maia, are you sure you didn’t have contact with Murphy, Derek or Connor before we got back?”

“Positive.”

“Ok, you two should go.”

“Maia, you should go back to your tent,” Bellamy told me.

“You told me you wanted my help.”

“I would rather you not get sick.” He added, “Maia, please.”

I nodded. “Alright, fine. But you know where to find me if you need anything.”

OoOoO

I had just dozed off when there were gunshots from outside. I ran out of my tent to see Clarke holding her gun above her head and several other people pointing guns at each other. “What the hell?” I muttered. I noticed sick people among the crowd.

“To state the obvious, your quarantine isn’t working,” Bellamy told Clarke.

“Octavia will bring back a cure,” she said.

“There isn’t one,” Octavia said pushing through the crowd. “But it will pass in a few days, the grounders don’t use it to kill.”

“Then why did they bother?” I asked. 

“It’s to weaken us for their attack. They come at first light.”

“How many bullets can you make by first light?” Bellamy asked Raven. 

“I’ll help you,” I told her. Bellamy nodded at us and we went to her tent to start working. 

“We’re running out of gunpowder,” Raven informed me. “We can’t waste it.”

“Of those left, who’s a good shot?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Most of our shooters are sick.”

“Great, so we’re doomed. Well, it’s been nice knowing you.”

“Do you really think the grounders would have shot those arrows?” She asked me.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, if I could go back and stop Jasper from shooting…But what if they weren’t there for peace? At least Clarke and Finn and Octavia are alive.”

“For now.”

Bellamy came in with Monty, Jasper, and a girl named Harper. “Brought more help.”

“Ok, we’re doing five bullet’s to a clip, you guys start loading them and I’ll keep filling these bullets up,” Raven instructed.

“Why only five?” Monty asked.

“We’re running out of gunpowder,” I told him.

“So basically we’re screwed,” he mumbled.

“The quicker we get this done the better.”

Finn stepped into the tent. “It won’t matter if there’s no one left to shoot. What we need to do is slow them down and buy us some time.”

“Sounds good, but how?” I asked.

“Murphy told us he crossed a bridge on his way here, sound familiar?” We all nodded. “If we blow that bridge up it won’t stop them but it should keep them back for a little bit.” 

“That bridge has withstood a lot, what makes you think it’s going to be so easy to tear down?” I asked.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Raven broke the silence, “It won’t survive me.”

OoOoO

We went with Raven to get the rocket fuel from the crash that she needed to make the bomb. I stepped over a charred skeleton. “Huh, I was right. Debris and bones,” I mumbled.

“How are you holding up?” Monty asked.

“Well, I’m not sick. So that’s a plus. The idea of being killed by a grounder is putting a damper on things though. How’s Jasper?”

“He kicked me out of our tent.”

I rolled my eyes. “I tried talking to him, I swear I did.”

“He’s not listening to anyone right now.”

“I think he’ll get over it eventually. Don’t give up on him, ok?” 

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“I’ve got it!” Raven called. “Let’s head back!”


	5. Chapter 5

Raven went to her tent to make the bomb while the rest of us waited outside. I looked at the ship, which seemed quite now. “I wonder how they’re doing in there.”

“Clarke is probably ordering around anyone well enough to care for the others,” Bellamy guessed.

“So basically Octavia and Murphy are playing nurse, I’d pay to watch that,” I said, I laughed but Bellamy didn’t. “You ok?” 

“What if this doesn’t work?”

“Raven is good. It’ll work.”

“We could all die tomorrow.”

“We won’t.”

“But if we do-“

“Bellamy, no one is dying tomorrow. I don’t care about your last request, or your deathbed confessions, ok? No one is dying.”

“Yeah, ok.”

“Alright.”

“You guys can come in now!” Raven called. Bellamy stood up and offered me a hand to pull me up.

“I’m going to go get some water, I’ll be back in a minute,” I told him. I went to the water jugs and filled up my bottle and took a moment to breathe. Then I walked back toward Raven’s tent. As I got closer I saw Jasper talking to Bellamy, he nodded and they both went in opposite directions. Before Bellamy even made it a few feet he collapsed into someone’s tent. I rushed towards him. 

“Maia, stay back,” he told me. I knelt beside him. “You’ll get sick.”

“If I was going to catch it, I would have it already.” I turned to see a few guys staring at us. “Don’t just stand there, help me carry him inside!” They covered their faces and helped him stand up.

Octavia was with Clarke when we came inside. “Bell, no. Clear some space!” She ordered. A few of the people who were already getting better moved around so there was a cot for Bellamy. They guys laid Bellamy down and then got out of the ship. Octavia rolled him on his side just before he threw up blood. “You shouldn’t have come in here, Maia.”

“Too late.” I reached for one of the wet rags and wiped the blood off his face.

“I’m scared,” he said. 

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I swear,” Octavia told him. She clutched my free hand tightly.

“Maia, what I wanted to say earlier-“

“No. You’re going to be fine.” I dropped the rag. “You can tell me when you’re better. For now you just need to rest.”

He grabbed my hand. “Please don’t leave.”

“I won’t, I promise.” 

He fell asleep quickly and Octavia stood up. “I need to go check on the others. You should get some rest too. How much sleep have you gotten in the last week?”

“Not a lot.”

“If the grounders really do come tomorrow you’re going to need all the rest you can get.” I nodded and she walked away. 

I lay down on the mattress next to Bellamy. Even in his sleep he was clutching my hand like he thought I might disappear at any moment. “I’m not going anywhere.”

OoOoO

The next morning Bellamy woke me up when he pushed himself up on his elbows. “Hey, feeling better?” I asked.

“Yeah, better than I was at least.” He looked me over. “You’re not sick?”

“I must be immune like Octavia and Finn.”

Murphy came over with a cup of water. “Here.” Bellamy knocked his arm away and water sloshed from the cup. 

I took the cup from Murphy and pressed it to Bellamy’s lips. “You need to hydrate.” When he put the cup down I noticed his nose was bleeding again, Murphy offered me a rag and I took it. 

“When I’m better, if you’re still here-“

“You’re sick, I’m just trying to help,” Murphy said.

“I’ve got it from here,” I told him. “Thank you.” He nodded and walked away. Clarke took his place. “You look a lot better.”

“I feel a lot better,” she told me. “It’ll be sunrise soon.”

“We should get everyone inside, if the grounders come maybe they’ll think no one’s here,” Bellamy told her.

“You don’t think Jasper and Finn can do it.”

“Do you?” He asked. 

“I’ll help you get everyone inside,” I told her. We went outside and split up, directing people into the drop ship and to the third level for people who weren’t sick. We’d almost gotten the entire camp inside when we heard the explosion. “They did it.”

OoOoO

Octavia walked in my tent and sat down without saying anything. “Lincoln is leaving, he wanted me to come with him but I couldn’t do it.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because I know what side I’m on.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I just couldn’t leave after watching Bellamy get sick. I may hate him some times but he’s my brother. And I’m sorry I was upset with you.”

“You had a right to be,” I told her.

“Have you talked to Bellamy yet?” I shook my head. “Do you know what he’s going to say?”

“No, but I have a few ideas. I’m sure we’ll talk soon.”

“Are you going to get back together?” I shrugged. “Do you want to?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” She waited and I shrugged. “I really don’t know, Octavia.”

“For what it’s worth, I think the two of you are good for each other.”

OoOoO

“Hey, big shot, heard you helped save the day,” I said to Monty, slinging my arms around Jasper and Monty. “You aren’t going to let it go to your head like this idiot did, right?”

“You don’t have anything to worry about from me,” Monty assured me. 

“Good. Now, Jasper, have you seen the error of your ways?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’m sorry I acted like such a jerk to you, you were just trying to help. Now can we be friends again so I can keep bragging about how I’m friends with Robin Hood?”

“Just because you said that I’m never speaking to you again, goodbye.” I let go of both of them and started to walk away but Jasper grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back. He tripped and we both fell.

“If you children aren’t busy, we could use some help cleaning up the mess inside,” Bellamy said.

“Yeah, sure,” I told him. As soon as he turned around Jasper and I burst into laughter. “Remember how I said you didn’t need those people to be cool? Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s no hope for you at this point. You’ll never be cool.” I stood up and ruffled his hair. “Now, come on let’s go be adults.”

OoOoO

Everyone was tense in the days following the bombing of the bridge. We had people constantly patrolling our walls but on the inside things went on relatively normally. I dropped off a load of firewood and then took a break to see how Raven was doing. 

She glanced up when I came in, and then quickly went back to work. “Hey, Maia.”

“Still making bullets?” I asked.

“Yep, I’m splitting the gunpowder so we have double the ammunition. It’s the best I can do until Jasper comes up with more gunpowder.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. I tried to stop by his tent earlier but Monty told me Jasper was working.”

“Well hopefully he doesn’t blow us all up in the process.” 

I laughed. “We have our very own mad scientist.” 

There was a moment of silence. “Finn and I broke up.”

I wasn’t too surprised. “Oh.”

“Just thought I’d tell you.”

“Why?”

“He loved Clarke a whole lot more than he loved me.”

“No, I mean, why’d you think to tell me?” I clarified.

She looked at me funny. “Because we’re friends.”

“We are?” 

“Aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I mean, yes, I think so.”

“Well I think so too, and friends tell each other when this kind of thing happens.”

“Right.”

She patted my shoulder. “You need to get out more, Maia.”

I shrugged. “When you’ve been in solitary for six months you kinda forget how to make friends.”

“You were in solitary? I didn’t know that.”

I nodded and sat down. “You weren’t locked up with the rest of us, I wouldn’t expect you to know.” 

“I thought Clarke was the only one dangerous enough to get special treatment.”

“In case you haven’t noticed I sort of have a cult like following.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. What were they afraid you’d lead some big rebellion or something?”

“I don’t know, but they told me I wasn’t allowed to fraternize with the other kids. Not that they needed to worry about it.”

“You could have organized a rebellion, if you wanted to.”

“If I wanted to, being the key words. I don’t want to be a leader.” I sighed. “Anyway, I needed extra security. They thought I would figure out a way to break out so they kept guards on me all the time. They even had to knock periodically to check that I was still there, if they didn’t get an answer they barged right on in. Happened a few times I was asleep, very annoying.”

“Why don’t you want to be a leader?” Raven asked. “I think you’d be good at it.”

“I just don’t want to be responsible for a bunch of people, I guess. It scares me. I feel like if I were in charge I’d just let them down. They have such high expectations for me.”

“Well, you do have quite the reputation.”

“Other than Clarke most of these kids are just like you and me, they grew up in average or below average families with little to no connections. I helped a lot of them, or if I didn’t I helped their best friend or their neighbor. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad I did. But if I’d known that one day everyone was going to know who I was and look at me like I was some hero…” 

“You’d still do it all again.”

“Yeah, but maybe I’d prepare for this. I’m really just a huge disappointment. I’m nothing special.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Oh shut up, so you’re a little awkward, that doesn’t make you a disappointment. No one great ever thinks they’re worthy of greatness. I’m not telling you to go overthrow Clarke and Bellamy, I’m just saying that sometimes you should be more willing to help and maybe discuss things with them some times instead of moping about the way they handle them later.” 

“You’re right.”

“I know,” she said smugly. “I usually am.”

“I think I like this friend thing.”

She laughed. “You did have other friends before, right? Besides Bellamy and Octavia.”

“Yeah. I guess,” I said. “I definitely had some acquaintances.” 

“Acquaintances?”

“Well it was sort of hard to make friends when I spent my free time stealing things. I couldn’t very well tell people that when they asked me what I liked to do for fun, now could I?”

She laughed again, this time harder. “You really are new to this whole friendship thing, huh?”

I shrugged. “I think I’m picking it up as I go along.”

“Ok, so, what do you like to do for fun?”

“Besides stealing things?”

“Yes, besides stealing things.”

I thought for a moment. I tried to think about things I’d done on the Ark that would have been considered fun. Mostly I just remembered sitting on the floor of the Blakes’ apartment and telling stories with Octavia and Bellamy, we’d always had overactive imaginations. “I guess I like to stargaze.”

“How poetic,” Raven said sarcastically. 

“I’m not kidding. I used to sit by the windows and just look at the stars sometimes.”

“Man, no wonder you didn’t have friends. You were a strange kid.”

There were screams from outside and we both ran out of the tent. The meat-smoking hut was on fire. “That’s where Octavia’s been working.” I pushed through the crowd and found Octavia sitting on a log with Bellamy hovering over her. “Are you ok?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, just some stupid kid wouldn’t listen to me when I told him the fire was getting to big.” She glanced at the fire which some kids were trying to put out. “All of our food is in there.”

“Come on, let’s get you some water or something,” I said. She stood up and we walked over to the water tent, leaving Bellamy behind us.

“What’s up with you two?” She asked, once we were out of earshot. 

“Nothing.”

“You still haven’t talked to him?” I shook my head. “You’re avoiding him.”

“I am not.” She raised an eyebrow. “Ok, yeah, but we’ve both been busy. I just don’t think now is the time to have the conversation he wants to have.”

“You’re going to have to talk to him sooner or later.”

“Yeah, well, hopefully it’ll be later.”

OoOoO

“Hey, Maia, we could use you in the hunting party,” Clarke said. 

“Me?” I asked skeptically.

“You don’t have to be good at hunting to kill a boar, you just need to be quiet enough to sneak up behind it. Find a tracker and someone with a gun,” she told me. 

“Maia, you can come with me,” Bellamy said coming up to join us. He had a gun in one hand and a spear in the other.

“Perfect,” Clarke said. She smiled at me before disappearing into the drop ship. 

Bellamy handed me the spear. “I just need to get some more ammo from Raven and then we can head out.”

We walked to Raven’s tent and I went in first. “Hey, Raven, you’re coming with me on this hunting thing, right? I mean I don’t have the slightest idea how to use this thing. I could use some moral support from my friend, you know?” 

Bellamy laughed. “I think you can handle it, Maia.”

I gave Raven a pleading look. “I need to stay here and work on building some walkie-talkies.” 

“I need more bullets,” Bellamy told her. 

She turned towards the table and mouthed “Sorry,” to me. She handed him three. “I’m all out until Jasper gets the gunpowder done.” 

“Ready to go?” Bellamy asked me.

“Yeah, I guess.”


	6. Chapter 6

We’d been weaving through the woods for at least twenty minutes and I knew the talk I was dreading was going to happen at any moment. “See anything yet?” I asked. He shook his head.

I saw him open his mouth and then hesitate and close it again. Warning bells went off in my head and I seriously considered sprinting back to camp and the safety of Raven’s company. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you since the other day.”

“Yeah, I know, I’ve been busy.”

“Well, you aren’t now.”

“Really? Cause I kind of thought we were supposed to be hunting for food.”

“I know what I did before, on the Ark, was shitty-“

“That’s an understatement,” I mumbled.

“And I know I’ve told you this, but I’m sorry.”

“And I’ve told you, you’re forgiven. So we can just forget about it,” I said with finality. But of course that wasn’t the end of it.

“I’ve been trying to make it up to you, to show you that I’m not the same person I was before. But I’m doing a pretty bad job of that.”

“People don’t change.”

“No, I guess they don’t.” He was quiet for a minute. “When I found out you were alive I tried to tell myself there could never be anything between us again, too much had happened for that. But then at the Unity Day celebration-“

“That was a bad idea and I take full responsibility for that. I honestly didn’t expect you to take that so seriously. If I had known you would have expected it to lead to anything more than a one-night thing, I wouldn’t have kissed you. I’m really-“

He cut me off. “Maia, I’m still in love with you.” I stopped midsentence and stared at him. “I mean it. I love you.”

“Ok. Um.”

“That’s not exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”

“I’ve been avoiding you for the last two days because I had a feeling something like this was coming.” I sighed. “It’s not that I don’t love you, because I do. It’s just that this is the worst possible timing.”

“When’s a good time then? I tried to tell you when I thought we were going to die.”

“Yeah, and in case you hadn’t realized, the likelihood of us dying soon is still very high. And it isn’t just that, I need time, Bell. It’s been what, a few weeks since I decided to forgive you? I love you, but love isn’t enough to build a relationship on. I need to trust you, and right now I don’t.”

“Then I’ll gain your trust back.”

“Please do. I mean that. I want to give you a second chance, I really do.” There was a rustling in the trees. I held a finger to my lips and stepped quietly towards the slope of the hill. Just a few feet away stood a boar. I raised my arm and threw the spear with perfect accuracy into its side.

“You do know how to throw a spear.”

“How’d you think I managed to survive own my own out here? I wasn’t stealing from you all the entire time.”

OoOoO

I walked back to Raven’s tent but she wasn’t there. So I checked the drop ship, instead of Raven I found Monty on the second level. “Seen Raven around?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not since she came in here to rip apart the radio for her walkie-talkies.”

“Oh, well, how’s the uh, whatever that is you’re working on.”

“It’s the log from the exodus ship. I still don’t know what happened. How was your hunting trip?”

“Well, it went about as well as I expected it to.”

“Catch anything good?” He asked.

“Yeah, got a pretty good sized boar. But, hunting is not what I was referring to. Bellamy and I finally had a little chat.” Monty made a face. “I take it you don’t want to hear the details.”

“Not really, sorry.”

“This is why I need Raven. Maybe I’ll look for Octavia.” I yawned.

“You sound like you could use a nap.”

“If I take a nap, some great crisis will occur.”

“Just take a nap here and I’ll wake you up if something happens.”

I sighed and sat down in the corner. Monty tossed me his jacket, which I folded up like a pillow. He went back to work and I closed my eyes. There was a static screeching noise. “Shush!” He laughed and I rolled over to face the wall.

OoOoO

I was woken up by the sound of the hatch to the second level being opened. I sat up and saw Raven climbing up the ladder. When she made eye contact with me her hand faltered on the bar and she almost slipped. “Shit.” She climbed up the rest of the rungs and stood just at the top, like she hadn’t decided if she was staying or going yet.

“There you are, I was looking for you earlier,” I said.

“I, um, was-“ she stopped and looked at Monty.

“You know, I need to go show something to Clarke.”

“She’s not back yet,” Raven told him.

“Oh, well, then, I’ll go check on Jasper.” He hurried down the ladder.

“Clarke isn’t back yet?” I asked.

She shook her head and walked towards me. “No, neither is Finn.”

“Oh. Well that happened quickly.”

“Yeah.” She interlaced her fingers and clasped her forehead with both hands. “I had sex with Bellamy.”

I laughed. “Very funny.”

“He told me about your conversation and I just wanted to forget about Finn, so I kissed him. It sort of just happened.”

“You’re serious.”

“I wasn’t thinking. God, I went in there– What was I thinking going in there? Maia, I’m sorry.”

“How could you do that?”

“It was a mistake, it didn’t mean anything.”

“I may be new to this whole friend thing but I’m pretty positive this isn’t how it works, Raven.”

I walked past her to the ladder and she grabbed my arm. “Please, Maia.” I shook her off and left without saying anything else.

When I got outside I saw Octavia coming towards the drop ship. Father behind her was Bellamy. “Hey,” Octavia said. “Clarke, Finn and some kid left with the hunters a while ago and-“

“Octavia,” I said loudly, loudly enough several people glanced up. “You’ve been in a few relationships since landing, I don’t know how serious those were but I’d think you know a few things about love, right?”

She looked at me funny. “What are you doing?”

“Like you could give me a basic definition of word, yeah?”

“Maia, what’s going on?” She hissed.

“Or maybe we could ask your brother,” I said. By this point everyone outside was watching. “Since he seemed so convinced he was in love with me a few hours ago. He was so set on getting me to trust him again and I believed him.”

“Maia,” he said. “Listen-“

“I think I’ve listened to you enough for today, I’d rather not. Now, Octavia, when you tell someone you love them you don’t typically turn around and hook up with their friends, do you?”

Octavia glanced at Bellamy confused. “Neither of us were thinking straight,” Bellamy said. “She thought that-“

“Raven thought she could forget all about Finn by having sex with you. I get it, I do, but there are eighty something people here and she had to chose you.”

“Maia, can we do this later, in private?”

“You didn’t let me chose when we had your conversation, so you don’t get to chose when we have mine.”

“This isn’t a conversation, this is an ambush.”

“If you’re done, Clarke and Finn are missing and we’re going to look for them,” Octavia said. “Would you like to come with us?”

For a second I just stared at her before I comprehended what she was saying. “The grounders are out there.”

“Yeah, so the sooner we find them the better,” she said. Octavia walked past me into the drop ship and I turned to follow her. Raven and Monty were standing there with the walkie-talkies staring at us.

“There’s three of them,” Raven said.

“I’ll go with Monty,” I said.

“Raven and I can go together,” Octavia said.

“You ok with going alone?” Monty asked Bellamy. “We can grab someone else to come with us.”

“He’s fine,” I said. “Let’s go.”

OoOoO

Monty and I walked through the woods looking for signs of Clarke or Finn. “Your arguments are entertaining, and good for exposition purposes. I always feel very informed after them.”

“I’m glad someone got something out of that.”

“You seem so quiet and reserved but when you get pissed off…let’s just say if the Ark is still up there, they probably heard you. If I ever want to get into an argument with someone, I’m going to ask you to fill in for me, ok?”

“Sure, I’ll be your pit bull.”

“You know, some of these guys are ready to lynch Bellamy if you asked them to.”

I groaned. “I over reacted. I don’t even have a right to be mad, I told him I wasn’t ready to get back together. I shouldn’t have done that in front of everyone and I definitely shouldn’t have dragged Octavia into it.”

“Anyone found anything?” Bellamy asked over the walkie-talkie. I cringed.

“Negative,” Monty answered.

“The worst thing is I really thought he was trying to change. But my gut told me he wasn’t ready for a relationship anymore than I was, and clearly I was right.”

“I know you’re upset but-“

“I need to focus on looking for Clarke and Finn, I know.”

“No, well yeah, but I was going to say people make mistakes a lot and sometimes we’ve just got to forgive them and move on.” After a pause. “Mostly I mean you should think about working things out with Raven, I don’t really care if you forgive Bellamy or not.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the sage advice, Monty, you’re really-“ mid sentence I noticed a green dot on his shoulder.

“What?” He looked down. “Where is that coming from?” Within moments half a dozen more green dots appeared. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a man wearing a gas mask.

OoOoO

_I rolled over, tangling myself even more in the sheets, and faced Bellamy. “Good morning.”_

_“Happy anniversary,” he mumbled, half asleep._

_I smiled. “Come on, get up.”_

_He slid out of bed reluctantly and started getting dressed. “Don’t you have job shadowing today?”_

_“Yeah, but the librarian doesn’t actually care what time I show up. I’m going back to sleep. You on the other hand should get going.” He jumped back on my bed and grabbed me around the waist. I squealed. “You know how ticklish I am, stop it!”_

_“Are you getting up?” He asked._

_“Fine! I’m awake, I’m awake!” I sat up and sighed. “I hate you.”_

_“Liar.” I started to stand up but he grabbed my shoulders and sat me back down._

_“Make up your mind, do you want me to get up or not?”_

_“I have something for you.” He stood up and dug through his bag for something. “It’s not wrapped.”_

_“I thought we decided no gifts.”_

_“You decided no gifts, I just let you think you’d won. Close your eyes.” I sighed dramatically, but did as I was told. He took my hand and wrapped something around my wrist, the beads felt cold against my skin. I heard a click and opened my eyes. Black pearls wrapped twice around my wrist and in the middle was a flat stone._

_I inspected it closely. “Is this Earth-made?”_

_“That’s what I was told. The woman I bought it from also said the stone brought good luck.” He shrugged. “I don’t believe all that stuff.” But_ you _do, was implied._

_“It must have cost a fortune, you really shouldn’t have.”_

_“Too late. Do you like it?”_

_“I love it.”_

_“I love you.”_

OoOoO

_We left my apartment and instead of going our separate ways, Bellamy walked with me toward the library. “Don’t you need to go the other way?” I asked._

_“Is it a crime to walk my girlfriend to work?” He asked._

_I laughed. “No, it’s not, it’s just not normal. But I like it, I miss you all day.”_

_We approached the last turn that led to the library’s quiet hall. Before we reached it Bellamy stopped me. “No matter what happens, remember that I love you, ok?”_

_“I love you too.” He pressed me against the wall and kissed me. I laughed and pushed him away. “You’re going to be late.”_

_“I don’t care.”_

_“Well I do.” I kissed him again. “No more surprises today, right?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Ok, well, see you tonight. I might be late, there’s something I’ve got to take care of. You know the drill.” He nodded. I stepped around the corner and saw a group of guards standing outside the library door talking quietly. “Did something happen to the librarian?” I asked. Mr. Carpenter was old but he’d always seemed so lively, I couldn’t imagine something bad happening to him._

_“This is her,” one guard said quietly._

_“Maia Farrin?” Another asked. I nodded confused. “You are under arrest for multiple robberies on the medical center, among other places.”_

_I backed away but two guards were already behind me. They grabbed my arms and I struggled. My bracelet snapped and black pearls went flying everywhere. I grabbed a guard’s gun and backed myself against the wall so no one could surprise me again. “Bellamy!” I screamed down the hall, I looked in the direction from which we’d come and I saw him standing there._

_One of the guards lunged at me and I fired, the bullet hit the man in the head and he crumpled to the ground. My eyes locked on his body, half his face had been blown off. I screamed and tried to run, another guard lunged at me, this time armed with a knife and sliced across my stomach. It took me a second to even realize what had happened. I looked down and saw the blood staining my shirt. I dropped to my knees, suddenly light headed._

_The last thing I heard before I passed out was Bellamy asking, “Where’s my sister?”_

OoOoO

_I woke up in the infirmary. I was shivering and a woman quickly brought me a blanket. “You’re awake, how are you feeling?” She asked._

_“What happened?” I whispered._

_“I’m Dr. Griffin. You were stabbed by a guard during your arrest, but you’re healing up nicely.”_

_“Arrest?” Slowly the memory came back to me. “How long was I out?”_

_“Almost a week.”_

_“How did they find me?”_

_She hesitated. “I believe someone turned you in, but I shouldn’t talk about it.”_

_“But no one knew about me, no one except…” I trailed off. Dr. Griffin watched me. “It’s my arrest, don’t I deserve to know what happened?”_

_“A boy turned you in, that’s all I know. The guards that brought you in to the council were very vague on the details.”_

_“Bellamy,” I said quietly. “Bellamy turned me in.” I looked at Dr. Griffin. “You’re on the council?” She nodded. “Do you know if a girl was pardoned? Octavia Blake?”_

_She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but the chancellor hasn’t pardoned anyone in months.”_

_I started to laugh but my laughter dissolved into tears. “He made a trade and it didn’t work.”_

_Dr. Griffin let me cry, I hadn’t even realized she’d left until she came back with a tablet. “As soon as you’re well enough to be moved, they want you moved in with the rest of the prisoners.”_

_“How soon will that be?” I asked._

_“A few days at most.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry about your boyfriend. That was what he was, wasn’t he?” I nodded._

_“Words don’t matter very much now, do they? It’s all over.”_

_She pulled something out of her pocket. “They found this in the hall. Is it yours?” She dropped the orange stone into my hand._

_At first I clutched it tightly, then I flung it across the room. It made a metallic ping as it bounced off the wall and hit the ground. “If you see Bellamy around tell him he can go fuck himself!” I yelled._

_Dr. Griffin’s assistant started towards me but Dr. Griffin held up a hand to stop him. “Maia is fine, she doesn’t need a sedative. Right?” I nodded. The outburst had exhausted me; I wanted to go to sleep even without the sedative. Dr. Griffin continued scrolling through my file. “I’m afraid they’re placing you in solitary.”_

_“Solitary? Why?”_

_“You are quiet popular among the working class,” Dr. Griffin told me. “The rest of the council is afraid you could amass a following.”_

_“I don’t want anyone to follow me, I never wanted that. I just wanted to help people.”_

_“You have, I’ve seen what you’ve done for others. You’ve saved people that I wasn’t allowed to. You’re a hero.”_

_“It’s lonely being a hero,” I told her. “You should’ve let me die.”_

_She shook her head slowly, the tiniest of smiles on her lips. “Your journey isn’t over yet.”_

OoOoO

When I woke up, I was cold. I looked around trying to discern my surroundings. It felt like I was in the infirmary all over again. Everything in the room was white, including my new clothing.

I slid off the bed slowly. There was an IV in my arm and I pulled it out. I walked across the room to the door and tried the handle, locked of course. I stood on my toes to get a better look out of the tiny porthole window.

The hall was just as sterile looking as my room. I pressed my cheek to the glass to get a better look down the hall but it all looked just the same. Door after door with circular windows as far as I could see. I looked in the other direction; the only thing that set the right apart from the left was a sign on the wall that read in large block letters “Mount Weather Quarantine Center”

I stepped away from the window. “What is this place?”


	7. Chapter 7

The door opened and I ran towards it clutching the metal pole that had held my IV as a weapon. "Whoa! Stop, stop!" A voice shouted from inside a blue hazmat suit. "I'm not here to hurt you, I swear!" I slowly lowered the pole, but didn't let it drop completely.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked.

They slowly pried my fingers from the pole, one my one, and I reluctantly let go. "Please, just come up stairs and let us explain everything." I nodded and walked into the hall. I glanced in the windows of the other rooms; just two doors down from me, Monty had his cheek pressed against the glass. I stopped. Fingers lightly pressed into my arm. "You'll see him soon."

I was led into an elevator. As soon as the doors closed the person unzipped their hazmat suit, I realized it was just a girl who didn't look any older than me. I resisted the urge to ask questions as we rode up to the fifth level.

When we reached the level and the doors opened again, I was assaulted with a cacophony of voices. At my surprised look the girl smiled at me. "Welcome to Mount Weather." I looked around; there were so many people. Most of them carried on with their business but a few smiled at me.

There was a door at the end of the hall, which opened right in front of us. A man in a suit smiled broadly. "Hello, I've been waiting for you." He motioned for me to join him inside and after a moment of hesitation the girl came in as well. "I am sure you have many questions, but allow me to introduce myself first. I am the president of this community, but you may call me Dante."

"I'm Maia," I mumbled. "Maia Farrin."

The girl's timid expression changed dramatically. "I'm Maya too!" I looked at her surprised. "With a Y?"

I shook my head. "An I."

"Still, that's funny, isn't it?" Dante gave Maya a look and her smile dropped. "I should probably get back down to level three. It was nice meeting you, Maia."

Dante waited until she left before continuing. "Maya is one of the lab techs in charge of getting your people through quarantine."

"Quarantine?" I asked confused.

"Yes, that is where you were. Level three is home to our hospital and laboratories, level five is residential and community," he explained. "While you were out we ran tests to determine the levels of radiation in your system. Fortunately you and your friend-"

"Monty," I supplied.

"You and Monty both appear to have DNA that has evolved to process strong amounts of radiation, we assume the rest of your people will have similar DNA structures. This is why you were all able to survive here on the ground."

"And the grounders, they're like us too?" I asked, I had never been very scientifically inclined but I had read books about biology and chemistry.

"Well, yes, and no. Through natural selection, the people you know as grounders, evolved to be a body of people that can handle the Earth's radioactivity. Your people, on the other hand, evolved because they were exposed to space's radioactivity."

"The grounders, you separated yourself from them," I noted. "Why?"

"We may live here, on the surface, but our people never experienced the evolution their people did. Mount Weather is our protective bubble from the radiation outside, that's why you had to go through quarantine."

"If you people didn't evolve then…the ground is still toxic to you, right?"

"Yes, if we were to go outside of this facility we would die."

"Why am I here?" I asked, finally getting to the point.

"We want to help you, it is not safe for you out there. Teams are being dispatched to retrieve the rest of your people as we speak."

I suddenly remembered everything that had been going on prior to my blackout. "They need your help as soon as possible, the grounders are planning an attack on our camp. When I was captured we were searching for two of our friends who'd been abducted by them. There are hundreds of grounders, my people may not be able to survive that without help."

Dante looked alarmed. "We knew tensions were mounting between you but we weren't aware how urgent the situation was, I'll have more teams sent out immediately. Would you be able to draw us a map of your camp? We know we were getting close when we found you and Monty, but-"

"We'd made it pretty far by that point. I'd say we were at least three miles northwest of camp. I'm not sure putting a map in front of me would help, I don't know the land much better than your people do."

He nodded. "Three miles northwest, I'll tell my teams. We will bring your people back here safely." He stood up. "And Maia, you are not a captive here. Make yourself at home."

OoOoO

After Dante had disappeared, I'd been taken to a dormitory. There were rows of perfectly made beds, just awaiting my friends to fill them. I could hear the creak of the floor when I stepped, and my bedsprings when I plopped down on them. It was a little creepy being the only living thing in this massive room, but it was the first time I'd been alone since following Bellamy back into camp weeks ago. The voices from earlier were diluted, but still audible.

My eyes fell on a train case that waited next to my bed; a note on top explained that if I would like to get changed there would be dinner served in the main dining room on level 5 at 6pm. For the first time since I'd been put in solitary, I had a clock. My stomach growled and I popped open the train case, who was I to turn down dinner. The case filled with clothing and jewelry and shoes nicer than anything I'd ever owned on the Ark.

I touched one of the dresses; the fabric was soft and slipped right through my fingers. It brought back memories of my mother tirelessly stitching gowns for the upper class girls who needed a new dress for this ball, or that symphony, very rarely there was a comet watching party and everyone went all out for those.

I chose a fairly simple yellow linen dress. Linen was one of the most durable fabrics; if it was taken care of properly it could last for ages. My mother always told me if I was going to save my money for the sale I should go for linen. Expecting me to save money for a piece of fabric was probably asking too much out of an eight year old. Even with a seamstress for a mother, I still blew my weekly allowance on fresh fruit; at least I was a healthy eight year old.

After I was changed, I went into the hall. Surprisingly there was no guard or escort; maybe Dante had really meant it when he said we weren't captive here. I followed the voices to the dining hall. "Maia!" Before I knew it I was being scooped up and hugged tightly.

"Monty, you're killing me here," I groaned. He let me go and smiled. "How's your face? It looked a little squished the last time I saw it." He rolled his eyes and I patted his cheek. "This food smells amazing, I'm starved."

Maya waved from a table in the back and I motioned for Monty to follow me to her. "Monty, this is Maya," I said.

He nodded. "We met earlier."

"I bet you're both starved, when's the last time you had a proper meal?" She asked.

Monty and I exchanged a look. "Never," we said in sync. At her puzzled expression, I added, "Prisoners don't exactly get fed five star cuisine. And before that, we weren't exactly the kind of people that dressed like this." I said motioning towards our freshly pressed, new clothing.

Monty noticed the plates of food heading our way. "We didn't eat like this either."

"I don't know how it is here, but on the Ark, the rich were rich and everyone else was, well, not."

"We're a community," Maya told me. "We all work together."

I had a sudden pang for our camp, we may have been dysfunctional but we worked together. "Has there been any word on our people?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No, but the first teams should return before nightfall."

As if on cue, Dante walked into the dining hall and locked eyes with me. "Maia, your people need you."

OoOoO

Over the next twenty-four hours teams returned with members of the 100. I was tasked with identifying them and providing as much information on them as I could. I barely had a moment alone with Monty, and I couldn't help but feel that was the point. Maybe it was just because I'd been on the run for most of my life, but I couldn't help feel like something was a little off about these people. However, I agreed Mount Weather was safer than the outside world right now, so I didn't push it.

At the end of the day there were forty-eight of us in here, including Monty and myself. Dante assured me teams were still scouring the area for survivors from the attack.

One by one the kids were screened and brought upstairs. They were given guidebooks and maps and their questions were answered, but each of them looked to me for assurance that they should trust these strangers. I felt Dante's eyes on me everywhere. I had no reason to feel threatened, but I was certainly being watched.

"New batch coming in," Maya told me.

A couple of kids walked upstairs and I recognized one immediately. "Jasper!" I flew at him and he screeched before realizing who I was.

He engulfed me in a massive hug. "Robin Hood, you're okay!"

I frowned, "Will you ever stop calling me that?" I asked.

"Never." He kissed the top of my head and let me go. "This place looks pretty sweet, huh?"

I bobbed my head. "Wait till you try the food."

Keenan, the girl in charge of assimilating the new kids, waved at me. "I think I can handle it here, if you and your friends would like to get lunch."

I smiled at her, and then Monty and I led Jasper to the dining hall. I made a beeline for the table in the back of the room, but Monty grabbed my arm. "A few of the kids are sitting over there, we should join them."

"We need to talk, alone," I told them. They followed me and we sat down alone. "We took inventory down there," I told Jasper. "Most of us are missing. There are 48 of us here now."

"A lot of kids died in the fight, you guys got lucky," Jasper said, shaking his head. "Before you ask, Octavia is okay. She was hurt but her grounder took her away."

"He'll take care of her," Monty said with a decisive nod. I nodded, more to assure myself that Octavia would be all right, than anything else.

"What happened?" I asked.

"They attacked, like we knew they would. They would have overtaken us too but Raven had the idea to use the rocket fuel in the drop ship to launch it. It created a ring of fire around the ship, and poof, fried grounders."

"That's pretty badass," I said approvingly. "Very Raven." I groaned. "Raven didn't deserve the way I treated her the last time I saw her." Monty gave me a look that screamed, "I told you so." I paused. "Last night when I made my rounds she wasn't here, unless she's come in with a team this morning…"

"Murphy shot Raven," Jasper said. "She wasn't doing good."

"Maybe she's in the hospital instead of quarantine," Monty suggested. "That would make sense, right?"

"If they brought her here, they would have been able to save her," I said.

"If she was even alive when they found her," Jasper said.

"But there's a chance she's alive," I insisted. "She has to be. She can't die thinking I hate her."

Jasper took a deep breath. "That's not all. The fire from the launch killed the grounders, but it wasn't just grounders outside."

He went silent for a moment. "Who?" I pressed.

"Finn was out there," he said. "So was Bellamy."

"So Bellamy is…" I trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Probably."

"Alright," I said quietly. Jasper and Monty shared a look. "We um, we have something else to talk about."

"Are you-"

I cut Jasper off. "I said alright, okay? Let me just compartmentalize for a minute." I stared at them waiting for one of them to comment. "I don't think I trust these people. Something about them just rubs me the wrong way."

"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?" Monty asked.

I groaned. "I don't know. Honestly. I've been so scared to trust people for so long that I'm not sure I know how to do it anymore. So yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe these are honestly just a bunch of great people who want to save our sorry asses. Or maybe they've got something bigger planned. But they're watching me."

"Of course they are. Until Clarke wakes up, you're our leader. If you wanted to you could make them regret ever taking us in, or you could be the one that settles everyone in peacefully."

"So maybe just keep the paranoia to yourself, huh?" Jasper said punching me lightly on the arm. Plates were set in front of us and Jasper's eyes grew. "This looks amazing."

"Dude, it is," Monty said.

As they both dug in, I shook my head. "Yeah, you're right. But, at the first sign of something shady, I'm pulling the alarm."

Monty stopped mid-bite and looked at me, then at Jasper and then back to me. "I just told you that you're in charge and you didn't even bat an eye."

"Look around Monty. Who else would you want our people turning to?"


	8. Chapter 8

The following morning I was walking to breakfast when I heard the alarm go off. “What’s going on?” I yelled at someone who was running past. 

“Containment breach!” They called back.

“Containment– Clarke!” I took off down the hallway towards the elevator and ran right into Dante. “Someone escaped?”

“Clarke, but I have a feeling you already knew that.” 

“Clarke doesn’t particularly like being locked up.”

“I’ve just come from talking to her, as soon as she’s cleaned up I’m sure she’d appreciate seeing you.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see her too.”

OoOoO

We took the elevator down to the 3rd level. I knocked on the door and then walked in. Clarke was knelt behind a train case, similar to the one next to my bed, changing. She stood up and saw me and almost knocked the case over as she ran towards me. Catching me completely off guard she hugged me. “Maia, I knew you weren’t dead!” 

“Yeah, me and Monty got lucky.”

“He’s here too?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know how much Dante has told you but there’s almost fifty of us here.”

“Forty eight,” she said. “Who else is here?” 

“Jasper, some kids I didn’t know that well.”

“Raven?” 

I looked around the hospital room. “We were hoping she was in here. Jasper told me what happened.”

“If she’s not here, then she probably didn’t make it.” I turned away, and Clarke grabbed my arm. “She understood why you were upset, she felt awful about it.”

“Finn and Bellamy are gone too,” I told her. She let go of my arm. “I’m sorry.”

She pressed her head into her hands. “We waited as long as we could.” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry, Maia.”

“You didn’t have a choice, I get it. Bell would have wanted you to save everyone.”

“He wanted to come after you, we all did, but with the grounders coming…I should have told him to go, he might still be alive.”

“He never would have left you guys, that’s not like him.” I shook my head. “If I hadn’t-“

“You couldn’t have done anything, Maia. None of this is your fault.”

“I should be glad he’s gone, I told him I wanted him dead. I should still hate him. Do you know how hard it is to hate someone you’re in love with?” I asked.

“He told me why he did it, turned you in, I mean.”

“To save Octavia, I know. But Jaha stopped pardoning kids after he realized we were running out of oxygen on the Ark.”

“You knew?”

I nodded. “Yeah, ran across some logs while I was on a med run. If Bellamy had just told me what he was doing I would have been able to explain that they couldn’t pardon Octavia.” I shook my head. “Even if she had been pardoned, he left me for dead in there. There’s no way they would have pardoned me at my retrial.”

“He was going to keep stealing, he said he learned enough from you that it would seem like you were still the thief. If things kept going missing they would have no choice but to pardon you.”

“What if he’d gotten caught? Hell, they would have floated him just for turning in the wrong person.”

“But you and Octavia would have been okay. He was willing to die for you.”

“Right before, he told me no matter what happened he would always love me. I guess that was what he meant.” I shook my head. “But I almost died. If he had just told me!”

“I’m not saying I think he went about it the right way, but I’m saying it wasn’t your life he traded for Octavia’s, it was his.”

“And now he’s dead.” I pressed my head into my hands and for a second I just sat there with my eyes squished shut, then I started crying. “I was scared I would lose him again, isn’t that ironic?”

“What?” Clarke asked.

“He told me he was still in love with me and I told him I didn’t trust him. I didn’t give him a second chance because I was terrified that I would lose him.” 

Clarke put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed, for once we weren’t at odds against each other. We were both in mourning. We understood each other. “There’s a chance he and Finn made it,” she said. “They knew what was coming, if they were able to get away from the grounders, they could have made a run for it.”

“They might still be out there,” I murmured.

“They might still be alive.”

The door opened and Clarke and I both looked up. “Maia, why don’t you go upstairs with the others? I’m sure they’re all wondering where you went. I’ll give Clarke a tour and then bring her upstairs.”

I bobbed my head. “Okay, yeah.” I wiped the remaining tears from my cheek and stood up. “Don’t get into anymore trouble while I’m gone, okay?” I said, trying to joke. Clarke smiled sadly at me.

“Okay.”

OoOoO

Upstairs the others were talking to Keenan. Jasper slung his arm around my shoulder. “Here’s our fearless leader. Where’d you go?”

“Clarke’s awake. Also, please stop, I’d prefer Robin Hood.” I cringed. Jasper grinned.

“She okay?” Monty asked. 

I nodded. “Confused, and a little shaken up. But that’s to be expected.”

“Are you okay?” Jasper asked.

“Me? Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Jasper, please. If I want to talk about it, I’ll talk about it.” I glanced over my shoulder. “There she is.” 

Monty and Jasper both turned. “Clarke!” Monty shouted as he pushed through the crowd towards her. He and Jasper hugged her and she smiled. The other kids whispered amongst themselves. I walked towards them, Keenan followed with a guidebook for Clarke.

“We were just about to go eat lunch,” Jasper told us. “Want to come with?”

Clarke shook her head. “I think I’m going to go to the room for a bit, but you guys go on ahead.” Clarke headed one way and the rest of us went into the dining hall. Today we sat with some of the other kids. Occasionally one of them would make a comment loud enough to make the whole table laugh, but for the most part we stayed in our little groups.

Monty returned with deserts and plopped them in front of us. I took a bite out of my cake and sighed. “This is heavenly.” 

“Hey, how come you didn’t bring me cake?” Jasper asked.

“That pie looked better.”

“Really? Cause Maia looks like she’s about to cry.”

“There was only one piece left, I didn’t want to be that person,” Monty argued.

“At least let me try a bit,” Jasper said. Monty and I both pulled our plates closer to us. “Oh I see how it is.” 

I saw Clarke coming in and waved her over. “You’ve got to try this,” I offered her a bite.

“I’m not eating their food.” My eyes flicked to Dante, even though he wasn’t looking our direction I knew he was paying attention. “Look at this.” She opened the guidebook to the map. “There’s no exits on this thing.”

“Clarke-“ I started.

“Maia, you’ve been here the longest, tell me everything you’ve seen. Dante trusts you. Me, on the other hand, he’s got some reason to dislike.” I shook my head. Clarke frowned. “This place is too good to be true, don’t you see that?”

“I’m going to go get some of that cake,” Jasper said standing up.

“Clarke, please. Look at our people, they’re happy. They have clean clothes, and real beds, and full stomachs, some of them for the first time ever. Who are we to tell them this isn’t right?” As I spoke I dragged my fork through the icing of my cake.

I flicked my eyes towards the plate, and Clarke followed my gaze. “Being watched.” Her eyes slowly scanned the room until she was looking at Dante, over my shoulder. 

“You’re right,” Clarke said. “I think I’m going to try some of that cake too.” She stood up and walked away.

Monty and I watched her walk towards Jasper and Maya. I scraped my fork over my words erasing them.

OoOoO

After Clarke made a break for the surface I was called into Dante’s office. “I assume you know why you’re here.”

“No, actually, I don’t. I didn’t have anything to do with Clarke.”

“Yes, I know that. Your leader has become problematic. I’ve given her two opportunities for redemption now, I will not be so lenient if it happens again.”

“Okay, well, Clarke doesn’t take orders from me. So I’d suggest you work it out with her yourself.”

“You seem rational, Maia. Less prone to outbursts. Your people admire you, even I can see that.”

“Clarke is our leader.”

“I want to work with you, to help your people assimilate here. We both want this to work out don’t we?” 

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Then you will sway your people from Clarke’s example.”

“Everyone loves it here, honestly. Clarke will come around.”

“I hope so too, but if she doesn’t and her doubt spreads it will end badly for us all. Be the example, Maia. Lead them.” I heard the underlying threat in his words.

I gulped but nodded. “Okay.”

“Now, go back to your friends. It’s almost dinner.”

I walked into the hall without saying another word to Dante. I didn’t go straight to the dormitory, instead I just stood in the corridor out of the way, as Dante left and people started to make their way towards the dining hall. Finally, when things were quiet and I had a moment to collect myself, I followed them.

I came in late and slid into the empty seat in between Jasper and Clarke. “You okay?” she whispered.

“Hmm? Yeah,” I told her. She took a small sip of her soup and smiled. “Good to see you eating.”

“You guys were right, it is good.”

“See, things can be alright here,” I told her and attempted to smile back. She gave me a funny look. “Wait till you try the cake.”

I looked at Dante who was sitting at the head table. He raised his glass to me and I nodded at him. A chill ran down my spine. Inside these walls we may have escaped the grounders, but I had a feeling that we might have walked into something even worse.


	9. Chapter 9

For a day and a half nothing eventful happened. Clarke was quiet, staying away from the rest of our group and sticking to drawing in her new sketchbooks. I had been the one to tell Dante about Clarke’s love of art, it was something she’d told me about the night we found the guns. We had spent the night avoid the topic of Bellamy’s certain punishment for shooting Jaha and instead discussed trivial things, like art. I cringed now, knowing that I had shared this detail with Dante.

Monty plopped down onto my bed next to me, making me jump. “Breakfast?”

“Sure,” I said. Honestly, I had never been a breakfast person. I preferred to skip it and save the money for a big lunch or diner, or prior to Octavia’s arrest, for her to spend at the sale. Now, however, I was expected to attend each morning. Clarke excluded, there were forty-six other kids who looked to me as an example. 

Monty and I had a long discussion the previous night about my character. His point was that I was inherently good, but unlike Clarke I didn’t know how to inspire good in others. I added that my charming disposition probably didn’t help much either.

I pointed out Jasper and Maya talking across the room. “I suppose he won’t be sitting with us this morning.”

Monty grinned. “I like her, she’s cool.”

“Well, I’ll let her know she’s got the best friend’s blessing,” I joked. Someone patted me on the shoulder and I jerked around. “Miller!” I was a little surprised to see Bellamy’s former lieutenant on his feet so quickly. “I thought you were still in the med ward, I would have come to see you.”

“No worries, you’ve clearly got your hands full here. I’m feeling better than ever, three surgeries patched me right up.” There was a pause. I hadn’t known Miller well, the only interaction I’d had with him was really just through Bellamy.

“We’re going to breakfast, would you like to join us? You’ll love the food.”

He smiled. “I’m starving.” Monty and I stood. An alarm made everyone freeze. I turned toward the entryway, in a defensive position, half expecting an attack. Maya scurried towards the front of the room. 

Clarke jumped from her top bunk. “What’s going on?” She asked Maya.

“That alarm means a search party has returned from the surface and needs medical attention. I’ve got to go.” Maya sprinted down the hall.

Clarke looked at me. “There might be more of us, we need to go with her.” She chased Maya down the hall, without looking back to see if I was with her.  
“Clarke, wait!” I called after her. I turned around and saw Jasper. “Go, with her, please!” He nodded and took off after them. The rest of the group stared at me, equal parts confused and afraid. “I’m sure everything is fine! The rest of you should all get to breakfast, you know the best dishes will be picked over if you wait too long.” As if coming out of a spell they all began moving, some towards their bunks but most towards the door. 

It was my turn to be frozen as I watched them, wanting someone to argue with me, or demand to know where Clarke had gone. Monty pushed my shoulder till I was facing the door. “Let’s take your own advice and get breakfast, alright?”

OoOoO

I was picking at an orange cranberry muffin, when Clarke practically yanked me out of my seat. “Be right back,” I mumbled. “What’s going on upstairs?”

“One of the guys they brought back was shot,” she said. “With a gun.”

“Grounders don’t use guns,” I said confused.

“Exactly! They’re lying to us, our people are out there.” A few people glanced our way.

“Clarke, you can’t just keep butting your nose into places it doesn’t belong,” I said, loud enough for the tables near us to hear. I pulled her farther away. “The grounders could have gotten ahold of ours guns after the fight.”

“But that wasn’t your first thought.”

“No, you’re right,” I admitted. “But, one gunshot is not proof our friends are alive.”

She yanked away from me. “Fine, I’ll find proof.” She stormed off towards Dante and I walked back to my seat.

“Everything okay?” Miller asked.

I shrugged. “Yeah, Clarke is just being Clarke. You know how she is. Paranoid, aggressive,” I tried to think of another negative adjective but my mind failed me. “She’s had a hard time recently.” 

“You both have. I heard about Bellamy and Raven, I’m sorry.”

“It’s no one’s fault but my own,” I mumbled.

“We did everything we could, for both of them.”

I nodded. “I know, but our best was not a lot. These people on the other hand have it all.”

“I’m luck they brought me here, without them I’d be dead.”

“We all got lucky,” Monty mumbled. He glanced at me and I looked away, lucky was not exactly the word I’d use.

OoOoO

Later that day I was sitting on my bed reading, I did enjoy the endless supply of books in Mount Weather. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Clarke walk in. I turned slightly so I could see her and Jasper talking. Clarke was visibly distressed. I hopped over the rail and walked over to them. “What’s going on?”

“They want us to believe that man was shot by an arrow,” Clarke told me.

“Maybe he was shot by an arrow,” I suggested. Jasper nodded.

“Maia, our people are still out there.”

“I know, Clarke. I know that. But look around. Look at our people. Half of them are kids. This is a safe place, with food, and beds, and you’re trying to take that away from them.” I knew my voice was rising; it tended to happen when I got upset. I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to worry any of the others.

“There’s something they aren’t telling us, I know it.”

“You sound like a crazy person, Clarke.” I looked over my shoulder, the talking had quieted to whispers and most of the kids were watching us.

Clarke laughed. “Priceless.”

“What?” I asked confused.

“A few days and it’s already gone to your head. You’re just trying to turn them against me. You know as well as I do that something is going on here, but you want to be the one to save the day.”

“Clarke, please. I just want you to calm down and think about this rationally.”

“I am, Maia. You’re the one who needs a reality check.” She shook her head. “You’re on your own, I hope this is what you wanted.” She turned around and walked away. 

I looked at Jasper perplexed. “I swear, I’m not-“

“I know,” he said. He steered me back toward my bunk.

“You okay, Maia?” Monty asked joining us. Jasper walked back towards the others.

I shrugged. “The only person that really understands what I’m going through basically just called me a manipulative bitch, but other than that I’m great.”

“Clarke isn’t herself right now,” Monty said. “Not that I’m excusing her for yelling at you.”

“Maybe she is the rational one.” I looked at him for a moment. “Monty, I believe her.”

“About the gun shot?” 

“That there’s something going on here. She’s right about that, I feel it too. But I don’t want to be the one to save the day, I can’t be.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dante threatened me,” I confessed. “He basically said keep my people under control or we die.”

Monty’s eyes widened. “He said that?”

“More or less. The point is I can’t help Clarke. He’s watching me; I have to be the embodiment of assimilation. If he thinks I even have the potential to inspire distrust in all of you, things could end badly.”

“You’re scared.”

“I have the well being of forty eight people on my shoulders. I’m terrified.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Clarke has to find a way out of here.”

Monty surveyed the room. “They’re not going to go easily.”

“She’s going to need proof too if we’re going to convince everyone to leave.”

“And if she can’t find it?”

“It’s Clarke, she’ll find it.”

OoOoO

That night I barely slept. I woke up countless times from night terrors and surveyed the room to make sure nothing was wrong. It wasn’t until the next morning when it hit me that something had been missing. I hopped off my bed and walked towards Clarke’s, it was empty. 

It wasn’t the emptiness that sparked worry, Jasper and a few of the others were early risers and their beds were already empty as well. What worried me was that I didn’t remember seeing Clarke all night.

I went back to my bunk and shook Monty awake. “Hey, get up.” 

He groaned but set up. “Did I miss breakfast?” He asked.

I shook my head. “Did you see Clarke last night?”

“I was asleep. Weren’t you?”

“No, not really.” I stood up and peeked over my bed at hers, willing her to be there sleeping soundly, but of course she wasn’t. “Clarke hasn’t been here all night.”

“Are you sure?”

“Almost positive.”

“You think she fell asleep in the library or something? You know she was trying to research this place as much as she could.” 

“Maybe,” I said doubtfully.

“Let’s just get changed and go to breakfast, she’s probably there scowling at everyone like she normally does.” 

OoOoO

I sat in the dining hall until almost everyone had cleared out and every plate was empty. “She’s not here. Why isn’t she here?” 

“Library?” Monty suggested weakly.

Out of the corner of my eye there was movement, I looked over my shoulder quickly. Jasper smiled at me and I sighed. “Good morning to you too.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“We were hoping you were Clarke,” Monty said.

“She wasn’t at breakfast?” Jasper asked.

“She wasn’t in the room at all last night,” I informed him. I stood up and the three of us walked across the hall to the room. I walked up to Clarke’s bunk and started inspecting it. Her art supplies were still sitting on top of her train case. I flipped through her sketchbook hoping it would tell me something about her whereabouts. Her annotations on the map were detailed, but useless. 

I tossed the book on the bed and trailed my fingers along the metal side until I landed in something sticky. I jerked my hand back and noticed red on my fingers. I bent underneath the bed to get a better look. “Is that blood?” Monty asked. I nodded.

“Recent?” Jasper asked.

“Maybe from yesterday afternoon,” I said. 

“So Clarke’s hurt,” Monty said.

“We don’t know it’s hers,” Jasper said.

“It’s Clarke’s bunk, it’s most likely hers. Even if it’s not, we’ve got someone’s blood and a missing person, she’s in trouble at the very least,” I said.

“I can ask Maya to check into it, she’s got access to all of that stuff because of her job,” Jasper suggested.

“Can we trust her?” Monty asked.

“Do we have any other options?” Jasper countered.

“Good idea, do that, please.” He nodded and left. 

“Do you think she’s okay?” Monty asked.

“I really hope so.”

OoOoO

“What did you find out?” I asked when Jasper brought Maya to us later that day.

“I asked around at the med center, apparently Clarke had a breakdown yesterday. She pulled out her stitches and started freaking out on the staff. They’ve taken her into psychiatric care, they don’t want her to hurt herself again.”

“That explains the blood,” Monty said.

“Can I see her?” I asked.

Maya hesitated. “I don’t think they’re letting anyone in to see her right now. Give it a few days, I’m sure once she’s calmed down you’ll be the first person she wants to see.”

“Unlikely,” I mumbled. “But please have someone tell me when I can talk to her.”

Maya nodded. “I really hope she’s okay. I know she’s had a rough time adjusting to life here, and she’s upset about your other friends, I understand why she’s lashing out. We have good doctors here, if that’s what she needs we can give it to her. If it’s just support, I can tell that you and the other outsiders are here to give her that.”

“Yeah, we try to be.” 

Jasper walked with Maya and I sat down on my bed with a thump. Monty leaned against the rail. “So Clarke is just going through a rough patch.”

“She’s not crazy.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know, but I’m telling you, that’s not it. Maybe she did rip out her stitches, but I guarantee you it wasn’t because she was having a breakdown.”

“What are you thinking?” Monty asked.

“That she wanted to get sent to the med ward. What better place to look for information than down there?”

“But then her plan backfired and ended with her in a padded cell?”

“If she’s even in there,” I said skeptically.

“Maya wouldn’t lie to us. Would she?”

I shrugged. “I mean I don’t know her that well. But, it could be that someone else is lying to her. Someone who knew Maya would report back to us, someone who doesn’t want us to know where Clarke is.”

“Dante?”

“Could be.”

“If Clarke isn’t in lock up, where is she?”

I paused. “In trouble.”

“You don’t think…”

“I don’t know, Monty. I don’t trust these people.”

“Then what do we do, how do we find her without President Wallace knowing we’re suspicious?”

“We ask Maya for help and hope she isn’t on their side.” I stopped and thought for a moment. Clarke wasn’t exactly a damsel in distress. I had a hard time imagining her locked up somewhere. “What if…”

“What if, what?” Monty asked impatiently.

“What if she got out? She made it clear she wasn’t sharing anything else with me. If she found an out, I think she’d take it. She could find the Ark survivors and the rest of our friends and come back for us later.”

“Hypothetically, if she did get out, would we go after her?” Monty asked.

“No,” I answered quickly. “Clarke can handle herself. Our people need us here. If I leave, there’s no telling what Dante would do to the rest of you. As happy and complacent as these kids are right now, I think they’d notice if both of their leaders vanished into thin air.”

“Even if they said you went crazy too?”

I gave Monty a look. “I like to think I’m a pretty level headed person. Do you really think anyone would believe I lost it?”

“Maybe not. But if they locked you up for verbally assaulting an official…well that is something I could see you doing.”

I rolled my eyes. “Either way, we don’t tell anyone about this, okay? Not even Jasper can know what we suspect. It’s dangerous enough for everyone that Dante knows I have my own suspicions without him thinking I’m converting everyone. I’ll pull Maya aside and press her about Clarke. I don’t think she’ll take it back to Dante, but if she does, it’ll just be me involved.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I want to protect my own skin as much as you do.”

“Good. As far as everyone else is concerned, we are nothing more than a couple of kids who are happy to have a second chance.”


	10. Chapter 10

As if to distract us, President Wallace had issued us each our own tablets to keep up with the weekly news in the compound. He thought it would make us feel like part of the community. None of us were new to this sort of technology, but some of us had more experience with them than others. “See, if you just…” Shauna tapped a few times and suddenly the full art database flew open. She handed the tablet back to an eager young girl. “There you go, now you can see exactly where every piece of art in Mount Weather is. That should keep you busy for a while.”

As I approached the table, people noticed and moved aside, leaving me a seat. “Looks like you’re keeping busy,” I noted.

Shauna looked up, embarrassed. “Oh, hi, Maia. I was just showing off.” She giggled nervously. I had met Shauna on the Ark when the library needed a few books re-catalogued, she’d been top of her class and her teacher had recommended her for an early job shadowing position.

“So if you can hack into the art database, you can get me some new books right? President Wallace gave me a few novels but I blew right through those.”

She laughed again. “Surprisingly enough, they don’t have their books scanned into the system like we did on the Ark.”

“You mean people here actually use a library?” I asked with mock surprise. “I don’t think half the people on the Ark even knew we had a real library.”

“More than half.”

Jasper grabbed my shoulder, surprising me. “Hey, Maia, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.” I stood up. “See you around, Shauna.”

“Bye!” She said happily, before returning to tapping away on her tablet.

“Making friends, how very un-Maia of you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I knew her on the Ark.” 

“Do you remember that huge power outage on the Ark, when the doors malfunctioned and some prisoners escaped? That rich girl that everyone was always talking about was one of them.” He paused. “She had some dumb name, like Diamond, or Platinum...” He trailed off.

“Glass?” I prompted.

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, turns out Shauna was behind that.”

“Really?” I asked surprised.

“Yeah, that was what she got in for. Don’t let her fool you, she’s like a super hacker or something.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

Once we were back in the dormitory Jasper got serious. “I’ve been trying to check on Clarke for days, but no one will let me in to see her. I’m getting worried, what if she’s in bad shape.”

“Jasper, I am sure Clarke is okay. I haven’t been down there recently but I’ll see if Dante can tell me something. Hasn’t Maya gotten news?”

He shook his head. “Maya is just as clueless as we are. She works in medical, but psychiatric patients are kept in a separate wing.”

“Alright, I’ll go see Dante now.”

Monty just about collided with me as I was heading for the door. “Oh, sorry. Have you seen this?” He pressed his tablet into my hands opened to the bulletin page. 

“No, I haven’t really used my tablet. Though it appears that I am the only one.” I scanned the bulletin. “So they’re recruiting new guards, and?” I shrugged.

“An increase in Outsider activity,” Monty read. “That doesn’t ring any bells?”

“You think they’re mobilizing against people on the Ark?”

“Maybe, or at the very least they’re prepared to put up a fight if our people come for us.”

“I would too,” Jasper interjected. “If someone opens the doors without going through the airlock, everyone in here would die.” 

“Or they just don’t want our people to take us away,” Monty argued.

Jasper shook his head. “Maia, please find out what’s happening with Clarke. Then we can think about what this means.”

I nodded. “Okay, on my way.” I left the room leaving Monty and Jasper behind me still discussing the situation. 

At Dante’s office I was let in right away. “Ah, Maia, just the person I was hoping to see.” He pointed at the painting he was working on. “Tell me does this flower look right to you?” 

I studied it; to my surprise it was the purple flowers I had been so entranced by when we’d first landed. As I searched the picture it became obvious to me that this was my secret spot. “It’s nice. Where’d you get the inspiration?”

“We send out scientists to collect samples for us to analyze, this flower was one that was brought back. I created this scene around it.” I studied the painting again, there was no way Dante had made this up. They must have taken photographs or described it in precise detail. And who knew when they’d been there, maybe years before our ship had landed, or maybe they were watching us the entire time. I shuddered at the idea of Mountain Men desecrating my safe place.

“Yeah, it’s pretty,” I said finally.

“I have a feeling artwork is not what you came here to discuss,” he said. He motioned to a chair next to his easel. I shook my head. “You want to know about Clarke, is that it?”

“She’s my friend.”

“It didn’t seem like she thought of you that way.”

“I let her down.”

“Clarke was upset you were standing by your people, that does not sound like a good leader to me.”

I shook my head. “Clarke and I don’t always see eye to eye, but everything she’s ever done has been for our people.”

“Even leaving you all here, alone?” I sucked in a deep breath of air. Clarke wasn’t in trouble. She escaped. “You seem surprised.”

Try relieved, I wanted to say. “No, that sounds like something Clarke would do. Are you sending men after her?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the notices, there’s been an increase in Outsider activity. We cannot waste our soldiers on a girl that doesn’t want to be here. However, we can send one of your own after her. You understand her, you can convince her this is a good place to live.”

I had no idea what his angle was here. Why would Dante offer me an out if he knew my suspicions about him? The only reason would be he didn’t know. Or maybe he had decided I was a liability, maybe he wanted me out of the way. It was possible he would have me executed as soon as I was outside; he could easily blame my death on the Grounders.

“As you know it’s very dangerous outside our mountain. We can provide you with supplies, so you will be as safe as possible,” he continued.

“You’re asking me to leave my people here.”

“Look at them, they’re adjusting to life here nicely. It shouldn’t take more than a few days to find Clarke and return home. They’ll be alright without you for that time.” The way he emphasized “a few days” sounded alarm bells in my mind. He wanted Clarke back quickly. He had a decorative musket above his door, if I thought it was loaded I would have grabbed it and pressed him to tell me what his plans were. However I was unarmed and there were guards right outside, I couldn’t risk it.

“I’ll think about it,” I said. 

“Please, make a decision soon. It’s a dangerous world for Clarke out there.”

OoOoO

I pulled Jasper and Monty into the dormitory, making sure we were alone. “What’s so important you had to drag me away from my chocolate cake?” Jasper asked.

“You’re the one who sent me to Dante,” I said annoyed.

“Wait, he actually told you something?”

“Yeah, he told me where Clarke is,” I said. “She’s gone.” 

“Gone? Gone how?” Monty asked. “Like dead gone, or gone gone?”

“She escaped.”

“She left us here,” Jasper said.

“Yeah, if I were her, I would have too. She wasn’t getting any help from us, of course she was going to take matters into her own hands.”

“And you’re sure she ran off and she’s not in trouble?” 

“I don’t see why Dante would lie about that. It’s his next proposition I was a little more concerned about,” I paused. “He wants me to go after her.”

Monty grabbed his bag and started packing. “What are you doing?” Jasper asked him.

“I’m going with her, you are too,” Monty explained.

“No, Jasper isn’t going anywhere, neither am I.”

“We aren’t going after Clarke, I know what you said…but Dante is offering to let you leave, you wouldn’t be sneaking out.”

I pointed between Jasper and me. “We’re not going. You are.”

“Just me,” Monty squeaked. 

“We already talked about why I can’t leave. If I leave, our people will feel abandoned. I can’t do that to them. Not to mention I have no way of knowing that they’d be safe. The way Dante said our people would be safe for a few days while I went after Clarke sounded like a threat.”

“Like all bets are off if you don’t bring Clarke back quick enough?” Monty clarified. I nodded.

“Maia, you’re being paranoid,” Jasper.

“I’m not being paranoid, I’m being safe. These are not our people, we can’t trust them.”

“I thought we were keeping this to ourselves,” Monty hissed.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, this whole room is bugged. They already know.”

The sound of the door-opening behind us made us all jump. We turned to see Maya in the doorway. “I just heard. Are you really leaving?” She asked.

“Some of us,” Monty mumbled.

“It’s too dangerous out there,” Maya said to Jasper.

“I’m staying here, I’m a cowered.”

I rolled my eyes and started grabbing things for Monty to take with him. I picked up my tablet. When he looked at it confused, I grabbed a piece of Clarke’s paper and scrawled a note on it. “Shauna might be able to help us with this.” Monty nodded. I tore the note off and tossed it in the fireplace as I walked towards the door.

I pulled the handle but the door didn’t budge. That’s when I heard the alarm. “Containment breach!” Maya said. I turned to face her and immediately wished I hadn’t. Blisters were beginning to spread across her face and down her arms, red and bloody, cracking her skin. Maya ran towards the door. She tried her key card, but the light flashed red. She was trapped in here. I banged on the window but there wasn’t anyone in the hall, everyone else was probably still at lunch. She screamed, “Help!”

OoOoO

Maya was taken to medical and Monty and Jasper went with her. I returned to the scene of the crime. A few of the kids that had returned early from lunch and found us banging on the windows, looked visibly shaken. Most of the kids were whispering about Clarke.

I approached Shauna’s bed; she glanced up from her tablet. She brushed her braids out of her face. “Oh, Maia!” She quickly pulled her hair up and patted a spot next to her on the bed. “Is it true about Clarke, did she really abandon us?”

“Clarke didn’t abandon us. She’s just trying to find the rest of our people.”

“Are you going after her?” She whispered, as if she knew about the bugs. She pointed up at the mattress. “There’s one under every other mattress. Plus the camera at the end of the room. Don’t worry, I took out the bugs under both of those beds, as long as we’re quiet the other microphones won’t pick up our voices.”

“Smart,” she smiled at the compliment. “What about the cameras? I have something important to ask you but I don’t want them to know you’re involved.”

“Can’t see us from here, we’re blocked by the other bunks.”

“Good.” I handed her my tablet. “I know you’re good with these. Do they work outside Mount Weather?”

“Hypothetically, yes. I don’t know how strong the signal is or how far it will reach, but they should work.”

“Could you figure out a way to pass information across these, that the people watching us couldn’t see?”

She gave me a skeptical look. “I hacked into the Ark for the first time when I was thirteen. This is elementary level stuff.” She rolled over and started tapping away. “Give me a few hours.”


	11. Chapter 11

After leaving Shauna, I went down to medical to check on Maya. I reached level three and headed down the hallway. I saw Monty’s head through the window and made a beeline for it. A nurse intercepted me. “Excuse me, you aren’t allowed to go in there.”

“I beg to differ, my friends are inside.” I pushed past the nurse and into the room. Monty turned to look at me and instantly reached out to grab me. My eyes found Maya first; she was lying in a bed, looking awful. I followed the tubes that flowed from her straight into Jasper. “What the hell is going on here?” I looked between Monty and the doctor that was standing next to Jasper. “What are you doing to him?”

“We’re using his body to filter the radiation out of Maya’s blood. It’s an experimental procedure, but it’s going well,” she told me calmly.

“Experimental? As in you don’t know if this will work? Do you know if this has side effects for him? Is he going to be okay?” I shook Monty off and crossed the room to Jasper. “Why didn’t anyone consult me on this?”

“He volunteered, Maia,” Monty told me. “I tried to stop him, but he wanted to save her.”

“He might die.”

“There’s a very low possibility of that,” the doctor said. “I’m Dr. Tsing. It’s nice to finally meet you. I know a lot about you, thanks to the information you provided upon your release from quarantine. You’re a very interesting young lady, Miss Farrin.”

“Are you sure he’s going to be alright?” I asked ignoring her. I touched Jasper’s arm and rubbed circles with my thumb absent-mindedly. “He looks so pale.”

“It may take a few days for him to reach 100%, but his body will be able to process the radiation from Maya’s blood very quickly.”

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked then, looking at Maya.

“I believe that she will make a full recovery at the very least, she may even be better for it.”

I nodded, and then looked at Monty. “Can I talk to you for a moment, alone?” He nodded and we stepped outside. “I’m going to kill him.”

“That relies on him surviving this.”

“Oh god.” I shook my head. “I came to tell you that Shauna should be ready to go by morning. But…”

“I can’t leave Jasper like this.”

“I wouldn’t want to make you.” I shook my head. “Did you hear what she said, that Maya would be better for it?”

He nodded. “What do you think she meant?”

“I don’t know. But if they use us this time to save someone from radiation poisoning, you know they’ll want to use us again. Maybe this is what Dante has been planning the whole time.”

“That’s jumping a little far ahead, don’t you think? Dr. Tsing said this was something they’ve never tried before.”

“Yet she was able to throw the whole thing together in an hour? They’ve clearly been thinking about it, or at least she has. It doesn’t take long for something like this to spread. We’re not safe here.”

“So, what do we do about it?”

I shook my head. “I guess I talk to Shauna again.”

OoOoO

Shauna wasn’t in the dormitory after dinner; I didn’t see her again until the following morning when she climbed up to my bunk. I jolted awake. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you!”

I sat up slowly and yawned. “No, it’s fine.” I looked around, remembering the cameras. “Let’s uh, talk over there.”

We moved to her bunk, out of the view of the camera, and she pulled out my tablet. “Ready for me to explain how this works, Robin Hood?”

“Actually, there’s been a change of plans. No one is going after Clarke.” 

She stared at me. “Okay, but…”

“I’m going to need your help with something else.”

She sighed. “I knew that was coming. At least let me show you this, I’m proud of it.” I nodded. “Alright, so here’s the deal,” Shauna said handing me my tablet. “If you click here.” She leaned over and tapped the bulletin then scrolled down to a hidden link. “I had to embed this in the page, but no one will notice it. Even if they do have some sudden interest in the bulletin’s weekly art posts, it will simply redirect them to a blank page. But on our tablets it’ll pull up this.” The screen went black and a flashing line appeared.

She tapped away on her tablet and a messaged appeared on mine. “See, safe and secure.”

“If we’re not going to use it, maybe you should take this down,” I told her. “Just to make sure they won’t find it.”

“Maybe we could still use it, in case we needed to pass messages between us here,” she suggested.

I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad idea. “You’re positive no one will be able to trace this back to you?” I asked.

“It’s near impossible to find and heavily encrypted, any messages here will never be seen by their eyes.”

Her avoidance of the question didn’t escape my notice, but I let it go. “How about the Ark, have you seen anything from them?”

She shook her head. “I think Mount Weather is blocking their communications, so the lines are dead. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to send out signals. I’ll find something.”

“Good, that’s what I need. I need solid proof the Ark is out there and, if you can, a way to talk to them.”

She nodded. “I’ll work on that. I’ve been doing some digging in the Mount Weather archives too, so far there’s nothing of note, but if I find something interesting I’ll send it to you.”

“Shauna, you are a life saver. Honestly, you could be saving the lives of every one of us in here.”

“Make sure they talk about me in one of you fancy history books, librarian.”

“You mean one of those fancy history books no one ever reads?” I joked.

“That’s the one.”

OoOoO

The door to the infirmary opened and Monty walked out followed by Jasper. “Thank god you’re okay!” I said, throwing my arms around him and squeezing. He made an uncomfortable noise and I let go. “Sorry, are you still weak?”

He laughed a little. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“But Dr. Tsing is positive you’re going to be alright?” I pressed.

“She assured me I’ll be as good as new within a few days,” he told me. “Don’t worry about me, Maia.” 

“Too late.”

“Monty told me you weren’t going to find the Ark, that’s stupid, you should have left when you had the chance.”

“I couldn’t just leave you, not in this condition,” I argued. As we walked down the hall citizens of Mount Weather handed Jasper cards and small gifts, so many that soon all three of us were loaded down with his thank yous.

“Maia, I’m fine, look at me.”

“Have you looked at you?” Monty asked. “You kinda look like shit.”

“See?” I pointed at Monty. “I have reason to be concerned. When your best friend tells you that you look like shit, you know it’s bad.”

As we turned the corner we came face to face with President Wallace. Dante clasped Jasper’s shoulder. “Mr. Jordan, how good it is to see you back on your feet. I hoped to get to you before you were discharged, but I can see you had quite the reception. Everyone appreciates your courage.”

Jasper shrugged. “I was just doing the right thing.”

Dante looked between the three of us. “May I walk with you for a moment?” We all nodded a bit reluctantly. “Now, after this unfortunate experience, I’m sure you can see Mount Weather is not entirely safe. Over the years trace amounts of radiation have seeped in, sometimes that results in incidents such as Maya’s.”

“Sounds like you need some upgrades,” Monty mumbled.

“Ideally we would do that, however we lack the resources inside this facility,” Dante explained. “We have developed a treatment for radiation poisoning, but it only works in minor cases. Our current treatment pales in comparison to the result Dr. Tsing had with your blood.”

“I don’t think I could do that for everyone,” Jasper said uncomfortably.

“Of course not! I would never ask that of you. But, if you could inspire your friends to volunteer…think of the lives you could save.” He looked at me. “Maia, I’m sure you understand the gravity of this situation.” For a moment I thought I saw a hint of a desperate man, he looked like he was pleading with me.

“I, um, we’ll talk about it,” Jasper said, speaking so I didn’t have to.

OoOoO

“Shauna?” I typed into my tablet. Across the room I saw her head snap up and look toward me, she grinned.

“This is so freaking cool,” she typed back. “What’s up?”

“Dante wants us all to help MW deal with their radiation problem.”

“What?” There was a pause, then, “No.” Followed by, “Jasper looks like he’s dying.” 

“He’s asking nicely,” I told her. “For now.”

“What happens when he stops asking nicely?”

I leaned my head back against the wall. “We’ve got to stall.”

“Um, hey, guys,” Jasper said, from the front of the room. Shauna looked up from her tablet, midsentence. Jasper cleared his throat and several more people looked in his direction. “So, you all know that I helped Maya out.” He looked at me. “I mean, not our Maia, you know…” He ran his hand through his hair. “Anyway, she’s going to be okay, because of me. We can help these people.”

“We?” Miller repeated.

“Yeah, they need treatments to deal with radiation, it wouldn’t be too often. But…”

“Dude you puked for three days.”

“Regular treatments wouldn’t be as bad,” Jasper insisted.

“So they say,” Monty mumbled.

“Think about what they’ve done for us. They saved us from the grounders, they saved our lives.”

“Not all of us,” I said, without thinking.

Jasper glanced at me. “They did what they could. This is the least we can do for them.” He looked around. “Come on, someone, anyone?” Kids began to shake their heads, some even turned away.

“I’m out,” Miller said.

Harper who had sat up on her bed, next to mine, nodded. “Me too.”

Jasper held up a piece of paper. “Okay, we have time to think it over. I have a sign up sheet.”

Shauna’s head had gone back down to her tablet. Soon a message popped up on mine. “Is this stalling?”

“No,” I typed back. To Jasper I hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What President Wallace asked me to do, he’s not forcing anyone to volunteer. The least I can do is ask, right?”

“Jasper, he was practically threatening us. We volunteer ourselves or they volunteer for us. We’re like rats, we can either go through the maze willingly, or we can get shocked. There’s no escaping.”

“Come on, Maia, you can’t really think that.”

“Don’t, come on Maia, me, Jasper. You’re the one who needs a reality check, but you’re too damn caught up in your girlfriend.” The door opened and Maya walked in. “Speak of the devil.”

“Hi guys,” Maya said happily, too happily. We all looked at her, looks of annoyance still plastered on our faces. Her smile faltered, then she pointed at her notebook, which she was holding up. “ACT NATURAL, THEY’RE LISTENING.” Was written in block letters. She looked at Jasper, “I’m so glad you’re feeling better!” I nodded knowingly, in reference to her note, hoping the others also took into account the camera that she had her back to.

“Thanks, I am,” Jasper said, looking confused. Maya flipped the page. “THE CONTAINMENT BREACH WASN’T AN ACCIDENT. FOLLOW ME!” I glanced over my shoulder at Shauna; she was pretending not to watch. 

“Hey, it’s pizza day, who’s hungry?” Maya asked.

“I love pizza,” Monty said virtually monotone, I admired his attempt. My mind was racing too quickly to process sentences. We followed her down the hall towards the dining room, but then she suddenly took a turn and led us down another hallway to a storage closet.

She closed the door behind us. “We don’t have much time but we can talk freely here.”

“What’s going on?” Jasper asked. “What do you mean the breach wasn’t an accident?” Maya’s face scrunched up and I could tell she was trying not to cry.

“She means they exposed her to radiation on purpose,” Monty said. Maya nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Clarke was right.”

“Shut up, Monty,” Jasper said. “Maya, did you know about this?” She shook her head fiercely. “Why would they do that to you?”

“To use you,” I told Jasper. “They knew you’d volunteer to treat her.”

“She’s right. Our standard treatment sucks compared to you, but they wanted to test that theory.”

“Everyone talks about the treatment, but no one says what it is,” Monty said. 

Maya pointed towards the back of the room. “Over there.” The four of walked towards the back of the room. She motioned to the fan; I bent to look through the slats. When I saw what was on the other side, I gasped.

“Those are grounders,” I realized. There were dozens of them, in cages, packing the room. “This is how Dr. Tsing knew how to filter your blood. The only difference is the body it’s going through.”

“Everyone knows, but no one talks about it. Without the treatments we’d die,” Maya told me. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Die,” Monty mumbled. He turned around to face her.

“You cheated natural selection, you shouldn’t even be alive right now,” I added.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Monty said. “Dante said we could leave right.”

“He was lying,” I said. “If I’d taken that offer, he most likely would have had me killed. But he knew I wouldn’t, he knew I wouldn’t leave my people.”

“Then we get out the way Clarke did.”

“Security around the mountain has been increased, you’d never make it,” Maya told us.

“We’re not leaving,” I told them. “Not if it means our friends get put in those cages. Either we get everyone out, or we die trying. I’m not shutting the door on them. There’s always another way.”

“And that is?” Jasper asked.

“We do exactly what Dante wants, we volunteer.”


	12. Chapter 12

We walked back into the dormitory and I motioned for Harper and Miller to join us by Shauna’s bed. I looked around, “We’re still free to talk here, right?” Shauna nodded. I lowered my voice. “We’re in danger here, serious danger.” 

“None of that Clarke is paranoid, Maia feels like everyone’s watching her, bullshit,” Monty added.

“Maya showed us their typical treatment, it’s grounders. They use grounders the way they used Jasper,” I told them.

“She showed you?” Harper asked. “How?”

“They’re keeping grounders in cages, there’s at least a hundred of them down there,” I told her.

“Probably more,” Jasper said.

Shauna pulled something up quickly on her tablet. “I’ve been digging into the medical files, and I found reference to the Cerberus Program and The Harvest. I’m not entirely sure what they are, but they involve grounders. They discuss certain characteristics that determine which grounders are chosen for which program.”

I shuddered. “I’m not sure I want to know if there’s more going on here than what I’ve already seen.”

“So how are we getting out of here?” Miller asked.

“We’re not,” I told him. “If there was a safe way to get all of us out of here, or even for me to smuggle a few of you out at a time, I’d do it. But there isn’t. The only thing we can do is buy ourselves some time.”

“Some time for what? For Clarke to come back for us?” He asked. “She’s probably already dead.”

“We can’t think like that. Our people are still out there and they know we’re in trouble.”

“Then why haven’t they come for us yet?” Harper asked.

I opened my mouth, but quickly realized I had no answer. “We need to buy ourselves time to look for a way out of here.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“We’re going to give them what they want, for now,” I told them.

“You’re kidding right? I don’t want to be some science experiment,” Harper said, backing away.

“We don’t have a choice, either we go willingly or they force us to. I’ve seen the cages, they have plenty of room for the rest of us.”

Shauna nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.”

OoOoO

I felt like I was floating. To my right Keegan, the tour guide, was asleep, I was treating her today. I almost didn’t mind, but I couldn’t tell if that was because I liked her fine or if I was really just that drugged up. Jasper appeared over me, he laughed at my surprised expression. “On a scale of one to ten, how high are you right now?”

“Like fifteen.”

“The only good part about this,” he said. 

“Little known fact about me, I haven’t thrown up in eight years, so tomorrow is going to be fun.”

Dante walked in and Jasper stepped away to talk to him. I tried to listen in but I couldn’t focus on their words. I fought to keep my eyes opened as Dante walked into the lab where his son and Dr. Tsing were working. They talked for a moment and Dr. Tsing left, blocking my view as she stopped to check on each of her patients. When she was gone I could see back into the room, Dante was grabbing Cage’s neck violently. I could only see his profile, but he definitely looked upset.

Jasper sat on the edge of my bed. “It’ll go by a lot quicker if you go to sleep.”

I tried to look around him at the Wallaces, but Dante had already exited the room and was passing us. He saw me looking at him and nodded. “Yeah, sleep sounds good,” I mumbled to Jasper.

He rubbed my arm. “You’re gonna be okay, Robin Hood.”

OoOoO

Haper, Miller, Monty and me, sat with Shauna around her bed. Jasper joined us, after turning up the music to help drown our conversation out. “How are you guys feeling?” He asked.

“Awful,” Harper and I said in sync. Miller just grunted.

“We’ve bought ourselves a little bit of time,” Jasper said. “But if we want to keep them off our backs we’re going to need more people.”

“I don’t want to drag anyone else into this,” I said.

“You know they won’t stop. The six of us can’t be used for treatment for at least a week, they’re going to want more of us in between now and then.”

“I don’t want to do that again,” Miller said.

“How much time do we need?” Harper asked.

I looked at Shauna. “Have you made any progress on talking to the Ark?” I asked.

She shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do from here, I need to get my hands on one of Mount Weather’s radios. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to unblock the airwaves.”

“Then that’s our next move,” I said. “Shauna, you keep digging. Me, Monty, and Jasper will talk to Maya about the radio. Miller and Harper, recruit as many people as you can. I don’t know how much time we need, but we can never have too much.”

OoOoO

I was lying on my bed, when my tablet made a pinging sound; I picked it up to find a message from Shauna. “Maia, I’ve got a problem.” 

“Yeah?” I asked.

“There’s too much redacted information in here, I’m getting nothing. I need the original documents.”

“Where do we find those?”

“Dante’s office.”

I rolled over and leaned down to Monty. My hair fell down around my face. “Hey get on your tablet.”

I watched as he scrolled through our messages. I sat up, feeling a little light headed after all the blood had rushed to my head. Monty leaned over to Jasper and whispered, “You think your girlfriend can help us break into the president’s office?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Jasper said. I scoffed and he gave me a look. “But I’ll ask Maya.” I looked over at Shauna and nodded.

OoOoO

That evening after Jasper got the go ahead from Maya, we took Shauna, Monty, and Harper to Dante’s office. “How’s the door coming?” Harper asked Shauna and Monty.

“Almost there,” Monty said.

“You’re sure Maya has the control room clear?” I asked Jasper again.

“Yes, she’ll be in there decontaminating for at least an hour. All we have to worry about is Dante coming back.”

“According to his agenda he’s in a meeting for the next forty five minutes,” Shauna said, glancing up from the lock she and Monty were working on.

“Okay then, forty five minutes to get in and out,” I said. I nodded. “We can do this.”

“If we can get the door open,” Jasper said.

“Working on it!” Monty and Shauna snapped. They both glanced at each other and then quickly got back to work. The light flashed green.

“Got it!” Shauna said, suddenly stepping away from Monty. She pushed the door open and immediately went to Dante’s desk.

“Shauna, get what you need and let’s get out of here. I’m going to see what I can find in these drawers. Harper and Jasper, you’re on watch,” I instructed. Shauna got to work with Monty hovering beside her. Harper went back outside.

“Oh, come on, guard duty?” Jasper asked. “Best friends don’t get special treatment?”

“Jasper, hall, now.” I pointed towards the door. He groaned and went outside. I sifted through drawers of art notebooks and official documents, most of which appeared to be on routine maintenance and rationing. Then I found something. “Maps.” Monty looked down.

“Better than maps, blueprints,” Monty said, he took them from me. “Every single part of this place is detailed here. This is how we get out.”

“I’m in!” Shauna exclaimed happily.

“I’ll admit you’re good,” Monty said. 

“I hacked into the Ark for the first time when I was thirteen, this was a cake walk,” she said with a shrug. 

The door opened and I jumped. “Guys, I heard voices down the hall,” Jasper said.

“Going to dinner?” I asked.

“I think so, but they’re early. Maybe Dante’s meeting got out already.” He walked over to us. “Find anything?” I nodded. 

“It was the surveillance footage I couldn’t see from my tablet,” Shauna said. “Who are they watching?” She opened the folder and at least two-dozen photos opened. I gasped.

“That’s the Ark, literally a piece of the Ark. They are out here,” I said.

OoOoO

The next morning I skipped breakfast to analyze the blueprints with Monty and Miller. “If alpha is on the ground, other stations are too probably,” Miller said.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Maybe all of them.”

“You were from alpha, right?” Monty asked Miller.

Miller nodded. “My dad was head guard, he sure loved having a thief for a son.”

“Hey, you were a good thief,” Monty said.

“Not as good as Maia.”

“No one is as good as me. Don’t let it bother you,” I joked.

“You were from factory, yeah?” Miller asked.

I shook my head. “Tesla. My dad worked at the power plant. But we lived on the border, it’s how he met my mom, they were neighbors.” I swallowed. “Coincidentally, that’s how I met Bellamy.”

Jasper and Shauna walked in, Shauna was chewing her cheek. Monty smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back. “Harper wasn’t at breakfast, has anyone seen her?” Jasper asked.

I shook my head and looked at the others. “Not since Dante’s office.”

“Then where the is she?” Shauna asked. 

I looked pointedly at Jasper. “You left her alone out there.”

“I heard voices!” Jasper protested.

“I sent both of you outside for a reason, to keep each other safe. You were too busy playing the wounded puppy to see that.”

“Maybe she’s just…having some alone time?” Monty suggested.

“We know better than that, Monty,” I said. “If Harper is gone, it isn’t by her own choice.”

OoOoO

Another day had passed with no sign of Harper. Shauna was scouring the security footage, but if she was still alive, they were keeping her somewhere out of view. Jasper and Maya came in and motioned for me to join them by Shauna’s bed. Shauna and Monty had been going through the footage together, while Miller napped on the next bed.

I sat on the edge of Miller’s bed, waking him up. “Find anything?” I asked Maya. She shook her head.

“We’ll keep looking, there has to be someone who saw something,” Jasper said.

“We’re in a sealed bunker, how many places could she be?” Miller asked.

I looked to Monty who was holding the binder full of maps. “Maybe there’s a secret room somewhere?” I suggested. “We’ve already concluded they don’t have any cameras in there.” Monty flipped through the pages.

“There could be,” Maya offered lamely.

“You’re a lot of help,” Miller said. “Thanks.”

“Lay off her, she’s on our side,” Jasper said in her defense. “She has more to lose than any of us?”

“Really?” Miller asked skeptically. “Is she going to end up in a cage too?”

“We don’t have time to argue,” Shauna said. “Maya, any luck with the radio?”

“The only radio is in the command center, it’s highly restricted,” she informed us. “I only got in before because it was schedule for decontamination.”

“We don’t need the radio,” Monty said, pointing to the map. “We need the wires that run into it, here.”

“The art warehouse,” Maya said, nodding. “That I can get us into.”

“Now all we have to do is break through a two foot section of wall, find the outgoing wire and jack into a closed system,” Monty told us. “Without being heard by anyone.”

“If Maya gets us in, we’ve got it,” Shauna said. He nodded at her.

“We’ll also need some copper wire, the guards’ schedule, and a walkie-talkie. Oh, and a big ass hammer.”

“Great,” I said. “This sounds like a piece of cake. Let’s shoot for tomorrow, around lunch. We’re running out of time.”

OoOoO

The next day Maya led us into the art warehouse. I looked around as I walked, unsure if I would ever see this much history ever again. “Can we have a little focus, Robin Hood?” Miller asked.

“Oh, please. I was breaking into tougher to crack places than this, when you were still learning how to pick a lock.”

He smiled and tossed his bag on the ground. Monty and Shauna located the wall and removed the art pieces. Miller pulled out a hammer and got ready to bust the wall, when Maya stopped him. “Wait, they’ll hear you!” 

“This is exactly what I was saying,” Miller said, still clutching the hammer. “She’s just afraid of losing her blood supply.”

“You don’t have to like me,” Maya said. “But I am trying to help. Give me five seconds.”

“What’s in five seconds?” He asked.

Jasper counted down, and then the alarm started sounding. Maya smirked. “A friend owed me a favor.”

“Classic,” I said, giving her an approving nod. Miller started in on the wall, while the rest of us waited. Shauna and Monty leaned in as the bricks broke away revealing wires.

Shauna turned around and smiled at me. “We’re in.”

Fifteen minutes later Shauna’s smile turned to a frown. “I thought I’d be able to get around the jammed frequency if I was going at it from the source.”

“But it’s farther up the line,” Monty finished.

“So we’re screwed?” Jasper asked.

“Not necessarily,” Shauna said. “Maia, you’re the best thief in the business, we all know that. Can you get me into the control room?”

“Hypothetically, yes,” I said. “But the likelihood of being caught is high.”

“I’d only need five minutes,” she said. “Just me, in and out.”

I hesitated. “Let me go,” Monty said.

“I’m a better hacker than you,” she said. “No offense. You’re better on the engineering side.”

“The guard’s coming!” Maya said, running towards us. “Cover the hole!” 

Shauna and Monty quickly reached for the painting, while Miller helped me slide a statue back into place. We all scattered, in the chaos I lost track of everyone.

ShaunaPOV

Monty and I ran from the art warehouse. As soon as we were far enough away, we both stopped. “Someone has to get into the control room, it’s the only way we’re getting this message out there. I’m going in there, you can’t stop me,” I said.

“Then I’ll go with you,” he told me.

“We’ll only draw more attention to ourselves.”

“How are you going to get in?” He asked.

I shrugged. “I’ll steal one of the decontamination suits and pretend there was a problem I needed to check. Maia would do it better, but like she keeps saying, we’re out of time.”

“Let me go,” he said. “Please.”

I shook my head. “Why?”

“If you get caught, if they take you, it would be my fault,” he told me. “I’d rather it be me than you.”

“I’m not going to let you get caught for me either.” I shook my head. “Okay, we go together. Either we both make it out, or…we don’t.”

“Okay.” He nodded.

OoOoO

We headed to one of the supply closets where they kept the suits and decontamination carts. We both pulled on suits and got ready. Just before Monty put his helmet on, he stopped. “Just in case something happens, and we don’t make it out of here.”

“We’re going to make it out of here,” I told him.

“Just in case we don’t,” he repeated. “I want you to know, I think you’re really smart. And you’re funny, and kind of amazing in general honestly. I just-“ I leaned in and kissed him to shut him up.

“I think you’re kind of amazing too.” I pulled my helmet on and steered the cart towards the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**MPOV**

We regrouped in the dorms. “You don’t think that guard suspected any thing?” I asked.

Maya blushed and shook her head. “No, I think we covered it up.”

“Where are Monty and Shauna?” Jasper asked.

Everyone shrugged. “I saw them running down the hall,” Miller said. “I figured they’d just meet us back here.”

“If they were ahead of you, they should be here by now,” I said.

“Do you think they were taken?” Maya asked.

“Shauna said she could send our message from the control center,” Miller remembered.

I groaned. “Then that’s where they are.”

**SPOV**

When we reached the command center, I raised my hand to knock on the door. I held it there for a moment, and looked at Monty for reassurance that this was all going to be okay. He nodded at me, and I knocked.

A guard opened the door. “We just had a sweep yesterday,” he said.

“We’re training a new guy,” I said. “They wanted him to practice the procedure in the field. Someplace that was already clean, so he wouldn’t mess it up, you know?”

The guard shook his head, annoyed, but he stepped out of the room. I rolled the cart in, and Monty followed me. He closed the door behind us. I quickly took off my helmet and gloves and headed to the computer.

I broke through the password protection quickly and then Monty helped me find the radio. I could see many channels coming in, some internal, and others on the outside. Of course, only one of them was being blocked out. It took me a moment to turn off the signal; Monty’s anxiety was stressing me out. “I told you not to come,” I mumbled.

Suddenly voices came over the channel, Ark voices. I squealed and turned to Monty who was grinning. “Let’s broadcast this message.” I plugged in the message Maia had recorded and it flooded the speakers.

“This is Maia Farrin, we need help. We’re trapped inside Mount Weather; I don’t know how much time we have left. Please hurry.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said. I nodded and stood up. We pulled back on our hoods and opened the door. Cage Wallace was standing outside with another guard, and the one we’d already spoken to.

“All clear guys,” I said. “Thanks for letting me take the new kid on a training round.”

We started to walk away. We’d almost made it to the corner when the other guard stopped us. “Hey, you forgot to sign off.”

“Oops,” I said. I looked at Monty. “It was a test for this guy, apparently he didn’t remember.” I took the clipboard and quickly copied what the person above me had put. Then turned back around.

“Which one of you is the trainee?” The guard asked. Monty pointed at himself. “Well, you might want another mentor. She said all clear, but her entry said something else.”

I laughed. “Silly me, I’ll come back and fix it later. We’ve got some more work to do.”

Monty shoved me behind him, as the guard walked towards us. I turned to run and tripped, smacking my head against the side of the car. Every thing went blurry.

OoOoO

When I woke up, I was in a cage. “Monty,” I whispered. He woke up slowly and looked at me, it took him a second to realize where he was. I reached my fingers through the bars and he grabbed me.

He looked up and noticed Harper was above him. Her skin was pale, her lips were purple, and her hair was like straw. She looked like death. “Forty seven,” she said. “They built one for each of us.”

I looked down the room, all I could see were stacks of cages. Monty squeezed my hand. “We’re going to get out of here,” he told me, but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to reassure me, or himself.

**MPOV**

“It’s been two days since Monty and Shauna went missing. Harper’s been gone longer than that,” Jasper said. We were sitting in the mess hall with plates of untouched food.

“I checked the harvest chamber last night,” Maya said. “They’re not there.”

“Check it again!” Jasper snapped. A few people turned towards us, Maya tried to calm him down.

“This is my fault,” I said. “I never should have gotten Shauna involved, she didn’t deserve this.”

“Neither did Harper, or Monty,” Jasper said.

“No, they didn’t,” I said quietly. “That’s my fault too. I should have escaped when I had the chance. Maybe I could’ve stopped all this.”

“Dante would have had you killed,” he said.

“I’d hope you have more faith in me by this point,” I mumbled. “But I guess I don’t deserve it. I’ve been a terrible leader. I just wanted to help, I just wanted to keep everyone safe.”

Jasper grabbed my hands and held them on the table. “This is not your fault, this is Mount Weather’s fault. They’re the ones to blame here.”

I nodded, but remained unconvinced. “We have to pretend like everything is okay,” Maya said. “Don’t do anything stupid.” Maya left us and for a moment I sat there.

“She’s right, don’t do anything stupid,” I said. “Please, don’t. I can’t lose you too.”

“You can’t expect me to pretend like everything is okay.”

“Everything is not okay,” I said. I stood up, my chair squeaking on the floor as I pushed it away. “I’ve got to go.”

OoOoO

I walked to Dante’s office. A guard tried to stop me, but I pushed past him. “Let her in,” Dante said. “Maia, how are you?”

“How am I? Really? I’m just wonderful,” I said sarcastically. “In case you hadn’t noticed, three of my friends are missing. Where are they?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know where-“

“Stop lying!” I snapped. “We know there are survivors from the Ark. You lied about Maya’s accident. You lied about Clarke.” I stopped. “Is Clarke dead? Did you kill her?”

“Maia, please, let’s talk rationally.”

“I am!” I lunged for the sword displayed on Dante’s desk and held it at his throat. “You’re going to tell me the truth. Where are my friends?”

“Put down the sword.”

“So you can lock me up too, and take the rest of my people?” I shook my head. “I’ve let you push me around for too long. I’m taking my people and I’m getting out of here. I don’t care how many people have to die to make that happen.” I realized as I said it how serious I was.

“You’re right, I have lied to you,” Dante said. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me?” I asked. I pushed the sword closer to his throat. “Please, you’re just trying to protect yourself.” I shook my head. “Fine. If you won’t tell me, then you’re not useful to me any more.” After I made my threat, I hesitated. Just long enough for Dante to knock the sword out of my hand. He went to his desk and pressed the buzzer. I stood there staring at him, knowing that I could take him out even without the sword, but I didn’t.

The guard from outside came in. He looked between Dante and I. “Please find out where Dr. Tsing and my son are,” Dante requested.

“Anything else?” The guard asked. Dante shook his head.

The guard left, and Dante turned to me. “Let’s take a walk, to find your friends.”

OoOoO

We followed the guard to a door. Dante opened the door. Inside Dr. Tsing was standing over a medical table, and Harper was laying on it, a drill inches away from her. “Maia!” Monty shouted. I looked down and saw Monty and Shauna in cages next to each other. They were clutching each other’s fingers through the bars.

“Release them!” Dante said. Lab techs ran to the cages, unlocking them. I pulled Shauna to her feet, and then Monty. He looked like he was in worse shape than her, and she quickly helped me support him.

“The ground is our birthright,” Tsing said.

“Lock her up,” he said. The guard, who had led us here, grabbed her arm. To me he said, “Go back to your people, tell them to pack their things. You’re going home.”

“Thank you,” I said. I helped Harper off the table, and practically carried her out of the room.

When got to the dorm I sat Harper down on a bed and then walked to the middle of the room. Most everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us. Jasper jumped up and ran towards Monty. “Listen up, everyone! Pack your bags, we’re getting out of here.”

“They’re just letting us go?” Miller asked. I nodded.

“What the hell is going on?” A girl named Fox asked.

“They’ve been lying to us this whole time,” Shauna said. Jasper was helping her support Monty.

“The Ark is on the ground, and we’re not safe here,” Monty said.

“Now pack your bags, before they change their minds!” I told them. “Now!” Everyone scattered to their bunks to grab their things. I went to Harper “Anything you need me to grab?”

She shook her head. “Just get me the hell out of here, please.” I squeeze her hand and nodded. Suddenly alarms were going off, and the doors to the dorm slammed shut. Jasper and I ran towards them and started banging on them.

I could see Maya across the hall, looking at us panicked. A man was blocking the window, but when he moved I could she who she was with. “Bellamy,” I whispered. He was wearing a guard’s uniform. He looked at me. I touched the window. Maya pulled him down the hall and out of my view.

I turned to Jasper. “Did you see him?” I asked. He nodded and for a moment I just stared at him, too many thoughts going through my head to speak. Then he hugged me. “How is that possible? You all said-“

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’re going to get out of here. Maya and Bellamy will get us out.”

I let go of him and nodded. “Then let’s get the kids ready.” I walked back to the center of the room. “Hey!” Everyone quieted down. “I know you’re all scared, I am too, but we can’t lose hope. We’re close to getting out of here now.”

“Really? Because last time I checked they locked the front doors,” Miller said. I shot him a look.

“Maya is out there, she’ll do everything she can to help us,” I told them. “And Bellamy is with her.”

Everyone began whispering amongst themselves. “She’s right,” Jasper said. “I saw him too. I don’t know how, but he’s alive.”

“If he’s here, that means the rest of our people know we’re alive,” I said. “We were able to get to the radio, put out a cry for help. Bellamy’s here answering that call. They must have a plan, they wouldn’t have sent him in without one.”

The doors flew open and we turned to see Dr. Tsing and several guards walking into the room. Two guards grabbed Harper from her bed. “No, that one needs time to recover.” She scanned the crowd. Jasper and I stood in the front, but she motioned to another boy next to us. “Take him.” I reached for his arm, but I was knocked back by one of the guards.

“You can’t keep doing this to us!” I shouted. “President Wallace said we could go.”

“I’m afraid that President Wallace is no longer in command,” she told me. “He had to step down. I’m sorry it has to be like this. I want you to know you’re all very special to us.” She turned and left, taking the boy with her.

After they left there was a moment of silence. I turned and looked at my people, they were terrified. The youngest ran to their beds, the older kids looked at the door. “What do we do?” Shauna asked me.

I looked around the room. “We fight back,” I told them. “Show them we aren’t laying down for them. The next time they come, we’ll be ready.


	14. Chapter 14

When the doors opened, the guards filed in. “Link up, people.” Shauna, Monty, Jasper, Miller, and I formed the first line. The rest of the older kids lined up behind us, and the youngest were hidden in the back. 

Dr. Tsing walked past the guards and pointed out the girl she wanted from the second line. The guards reached for her and we pushed. He was shoved back a few steps, but more guards came, pulling us apart. I kicked one in the stomach, and he hit the ground. Another guard came for me, restraining my arms. I jerked my body away from him. “Stop!” He hissed, I recognized the voice immediately.

“Bell?” I whispered.

He shushed me quietly, leading me a few steps away from the chaos. “They’re killing the kids,” he told me. “The next time, you fight back, and you fight back hard.” I felt him press something into my hands. “Use this, promise me you will.”

My fingers tightened around the gun, I remembered how ready I was to kill Dante. “I will. Find Dante, he’ll help us.”

“Hey, everything okay over there?” Another guard called.

Bellamy squeezed my arm once. “Yeah!” He called back. He threw me hard onto the ground. The gun almost went flying out of my hands, but I managed to keep my grip. I kept my eyes on the ground, even though every part of me was screaming to look up at Bellamy, to make sure he was real.

I heard the doors close behind the guards, and I looked up. I pulled myself up, looking around the room. “Is that the best we’ve got?”

OoOoO

I showed my friends the gun. “Bellamy gave me this, we have a chance.”

“You sure you’re going to be able to use that?” Jasper asked. “Maybe I should-“

“No,” I said. “I’ve let these people down too many times, its time for me to make up for that.”

“What about the rest of us?” Miller asked.

“We might be able to unscrew some beams from the beds,” Monty said. “They’re not guns, but they’re better than fighting with out bare hands.”

I nodded. “Shauna help him with that.” I looked to Miller. “Look for anything else that can be used as a weapon. Let’s try to arm as many people as we can.”

Everyone split up, trying to look for something. When we were as ready as we were going to be, we formed our lines again. “What’s taking Bellamy so long?” Monty asked.

“Maybe they caught him,” Miller said.

“No,” I snapped. “Bellamy is smarter than that.”

“They’re going to take someone else,” Harper said.

I shook my head. “They’re not taking anyone from this room. Not without a fight.”

The doors opened again, we did nothing as they walked towards us. “This one,” Dr. Tsing said, this time she pointed at Monty. Shauna was the first to react. She leapt from the line and swung her metal bar, hitting a guard across the face. He crumpled clutching his nose that was spewing blood. When a guard came for her, I shot him. That’s when everything erupted into chaos; metal bars were being swung every which way. 

I shot a few more times, but everyone was moving so quickly I had to be careful I didn’t shoot one of my own people. Then the gun was knocked out of my hand and I was thrown down next to Shauna, who was clutching her arm in pain. “Take her instead,” Dr. Tsing said.

“No,” Jasper said, standing up in front of me. A guard shoved him to the ground, and then grabbed me, yanking me to my feet. They pulled me out of the room; I let them lead me away. They took me to the elevator, but just as the door was opening the guard holding my arms started to let go.

“Something’s wrong,” one said.

Dr. Tsing fumbled for her radio. “Containment breach, level five.” A few of the guards dropped.

Kids from the dorm started running towards me. “Keep going!” I told them. “Get to the mess hall! Grab all the weapons you can!” Kids ran by, picking up guns off the fallen guards. Dr. Tsing crawled towards the elevator.

I lunged for it, but Jasper was there first. He stuck his arm in-between the doors and they opened. “You can’t do this,” she said. Her skin was beginning to melt off.

“I hope you know you’re very special to us,” he said. She screamed and then fell silent. I turned away, not wanting to look at what was left of her.

“Come on,” I said. “We’ve got to get everyone ready to fight.” I ran towards the mess hall with everyone else on my heels. Most of the kids were already working, digging through drawers for knives, or moving large furniture towards the doors.

“Monty, get these doors shut!” I told him. He nodded and started working on the control panel. “Miller and Jasper, move the dining tables in front of the door, set up a barricade. We have the level for now, but don’t think we’ve won yet!” I called to everyone else. Fox knocked out a camera. “Good, get the hallway cameras.”

“No, leave them, we could use the eyes out here,” Monty said. “Shauna, can you set that up?”

She smiled at him. “You got it.”

OoOoO

A few hours passed with no trouble from the Mountain Men. Then there was an explosion. “They’re here!” Shauna shouted, looking up from her tablet. 

“You were right,” Monty said, looking at the screen. “No guns.”

“Some of them aren’t wearing hazmat suits,” she said confused.

I looked between Monty and Jasper. “They’re cured.”

The Mountain Men knocked in the door and then threw a few smoke bombs over. “Get those in the vases!” I called quietly. Fox ran towards them with two vases of water. “Careful, stay away from the smoke!” She covered her face and grabbed them. “Everyone get down, you know the plan.”

Once Fox had neutralized the gas bombs, I motioned her to the back of the room. We all lay down, pretending to be knocked out. The guards knocked down our barricade and walked into the room, looking us over. 

I heard someone reach into the vase that was next to me and pull out the bomb. I jumped up, swinging my knife. It sliced the guard across the shoulder. The others followed my lead; guards were dropping left and right. We weren’t messing around anymore. This was life or death.

“Retreat!” One of the guards yelled. The remaining guards fell back. I turned to our group, triumphant, and then I heard a scream.

“They took Fox,” Shauna shouted. 

Jasper ran towards the door, but I grabbed his arm. “We can’t.”

“I told her…I told her everything was going to be okay.”

“We’ll get her back,” I told him. “But we can’t do that with a target on our backs.”

“We’re going to need a lot more than a little water and four guns,” Miller said. “They’re going to come in hotter next time.”

I nodded. “I know.”

One of the walkie-talkies beeped. I picked it up. “This is President Wallace, speaking to the people who just killed ten of my men.” Shauna and Monty ran towards me with the tablet. Jasper and I looked at it; Maya was standing in the hallway in a HAZMAT suit. “We thought we’d try something a little different. Maya has twenty minutes of oxygen in her suit. Either you turn yourselves in, or she suffocates.”

Jasper ran outside and got Maya. I went over to them. “Fox is okay,” she told us.  
“Bellamy saved her. He’s going to bring guns through the trash chute.”

“If we can get guns in here, we can get you out,” Jasper said.

“No we can’t,” Monty said shaking his head. “I disabled the chute, I didn’t think we’d be opening it ourselves.”

Maya’s breath quickened. “Stay calm,” I told her. “You’ll use up more oxygen if you’re breathing fast.”

“I can fix it,” Monty said. “I’ll get Shauna.” He ran off towards the kitchen. I did a round, making sure the others were still working on the barricade. Then I joined them.

“This is harder than I thought,” Monty said. “I can’t get the connection back.”

Shauna reached out and yanked the control panel off the wall. We all stared at her. “I cut power to the door. Don’t just look at me, help me get this open!” The guys started pulling at the door, but it was stuck.

Then the door burst open and Bellamy stuck his head into the room. “Get her down here!” He said. I pushed Maya towards the chute, and Jasper helped her climb in. We slid down after her. As soon as we were down the slide. Maya ripped her helmet off. Jasper hugged her. 

Bellamy helped me to my feet. For a minute I just stared at him. “I’m sorry.”

I hugged him. “I don’t care, I forgive you. None of it matters anymore.” I held onto him tightly. “I thought you were dead.” He held me with one hand on my back and one on my head, like he was never going to let me go. “Is everyone else okay? Raven, Finn, Clarke?”

“Raven and Clarke are alive,” he said. I sighed in relief. “Finn…” He trailed off.

I let go of him. “Tell me later. We’ve got to get out of here.”

A man walked into the room. “Dad?” Maya said. Jasper let her go and she ran and hugged him.

“We need to get everyone down here,” Maya’s dad told us. “We’re going to hide you all.”

I jumped up on the dumpster and leaned into the trash chute. “Miller?” I called. 

“Maia?”

“We need to get everyone down here. As quickly as possible.”

“Roger that, boss.”

“Boss?” Bellamy asked.

“It seems like we have a lot of catching up to do,” I said.

Maya and her father ran ahead of us, presumably to set up whatever the next step of the plan was. Once everyone was down Bellamy led us out into the hall. “What about the cameras?” Shauna asked.

“Maya disabled them all,” Bellamy assured her.

“We’re all sitting ducks in a group like this,” Miller said.

“You’re right,” Bellamy said. “We’re splitting up.”

“No,” Monty said. “We stay together, we survive together.”

I looked up to see Maya standing in front a group of Mount Weather civilians. I looked at Bellamy. “You trust these people?” I asked. He nodded. I looked back at everyone else. “Go with them.” The kids all ran around me, and Maya’s friends divided them into groups. 

“We’re coming with you,” Jasper said to Bellamy.

“No, you’re not. They don’t know I’m here, and I need to keep it that way.”

I nodded reluctantly. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Bellamy this quickly after I found him, but he was right. “What do we do?” I asked.

“Stay alive, get ready to fight,” he told us. He nodded and then turned to leave.

“Bell?” I called. He turned back around. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me. I kissed him quickly, just a peck. “Don’t die on me, okay?” I turned and grabbed Jasper and headed towards the others.

OoOoO

Miller and I were sitting on someone’s couch drinking coffee, as we had been for the last day. “I hate this,” I said.

“Me too.”

“I should be out there, fighting, helping.”

“You aren’t going to be any good to anyone dead.”

I rolled my eyes. There was a knock on the door. The woman who was hiding us motioned for us to get inside a secret compartment under the counter. “Whatever happens, do not reveal yourselves. I believe in this cause, and I will die for it.”

She slid the panel back into place and went to answer the door. Miller and I were squished close together. There was no way for us to see what was going on in the room, but we could hear.

“Routine inspection Ms. Velasquez,” a man said. I could hear them moving around the room.

“Have you found any of those murders yet?” She asked.

“That’s confidential information,” he said. “But I can promise you, we will be on the ground before you know it.” I shuddered. 

“A witness said they saw you leaving the mess hall with extra food,” another voice said.

“I took an extra slice of cake the other day, I know it’s frowned upon. But I always get a craving for chocolate in the middle of the night.”

The footsteps got closer. I tried to hold my breath. The guard drummed his finger on the counter. When he got to our hiding spot, the sound changed. He stopped. There was a moment of silence and then he kicked in the panel. A shard of wood hit me in the face. He reached in and yanked us out.

Ms. Velasquez lunged at him, and he shot her in the head. Blood spattered the room, and I flinched. “Take them to the lab.”


	15. Chapter 15

Miller and I were led down the hall; eventually we met up with another pair of captives, Maya and Jasper. No one said anything. We turned down the hall, and came face to face with Maya’s father. “Get out of our way, Vincent,” the guard in the front said.

He shook his head. “That’s my daughter.”

“She’s been helping the outsiders, that’s treason.”

“I can’t let you take her.”

“Dad, please,” Maya called out.

The guard raised his gun. But before he could shoot, someone shot him. Miller and I flung our guards against the wall. Vincent helped Bellamy out of an air vent. “We need to get you all to the harvest chamber, you’ll be safe there.”

“Safe in the harvest chamber?” Jasper asked skeptically.

“Just trust me.”

“Monty and Shauna?” I asked.

“They’re with the other group on level three,” Vincent said. To Bellamy he said, “You should go there next.”

I grabbed up a gun off one of the fallen guards. “I’m going with you.”

“Maia,” Bellamy started.

I gave him a look. “Your cover’s blown, there’s no excuse. I can’t sit around waiting for someone to save me. These are my people too, let me protect them.”

“Okay, let’s go.” I followed him down the hallway. A few moments later Jasper and Maya joined us too.

Bellamy led us through air vents to the next level. We waited until the hall was clear before jumping out. “Attention, quarantine procedures are in effect,” a voice said over the loud speakers. “All civilians report to level five immediately.”

Maya stopped walking. “In thirty minutes all power will be diverted to level five, I can’t go to level five without being shot in the head.”

“Then we get you a suit, enough oxygen to last until the power is back on,” Jasper said.

“And then what? Cage isn’t going to let me live.”

“Then we kill him,” I said. I looked at Bellamy. “Let’s get the others.” We headed down the hall. “So what’s the plan?”

“Clarke is outside with a grounder army, I released the grounders trapped inside. The Mountain Men are surrounded.”

There was a body lying in the middle of the hall. “That’s Mrs. Ryan, she was hiding the rest of you,” Maya said. “They’ve probably taken everyone to level five, if they’re not dead already.”

“Then we’ve got to go down there,” I said.

“Everyone is on level five, every soldier,” Bellamy said. “That’s suicide.”

“I let this happen, this is my fault,” I told him. “I’ve got to try.”

“After lockdown, we won’t have another chance to save them,” Maya said. “It’s now or never.”

Before any of us could go anywhere. A door opened and Monty stepped out, he looked at us like a deer caught in the headlights. “They know about the grounders,” he said. “That’s why I hid. I didn’t try to stop them, they killed Mrs. Ryan and they took everyone else.” He looked at me. “They took Shauna.”

“What do you mean they know about the grounders?” Bellamy asked.

“I heard it over a guard’s walkie. They’re going for the harvest chamber.”

“If they take it, we lose everyone.”

“We’ve got to go!”

We ran to the harvest chamber, there were no guards to be seen. Maya opened the door and suddenly gasped. “Dad!” She ran into the room and dropped to her knees. I looked past everyone; I could see Vincent on the ground, in a pool of blood. 

“They’re gone,” Bellamy said. “They’re all gone.”

“We’re too late.”

“Octavia was supposed to be bringing Grounders in from the Reaper tunnel,” Bellamy said. “Maybe they’re still there.” He led us out of the harvest chamber and towards the tunnel.

“Reapers?” I asked.

“The Mountain Men use drugs to turn Grounders into zombies. Then they bring back more Grounders for their blood.”

“That’s disgusting,” I said. “These people are awful!”

When we reached the tunnel, he opened the door. I couldn’t the other side, but I saw Octavia barrel into our side and hug Bellamy. Then she noticed me. “They said you were safe.”

“You look…” I paused, taking in her braided hair and her war paint.

“Like a Grounder, I know,” she said. “We can catch up later.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” I hugged her. I let go and walked up to Clarke. I gave her a small shove. “You made me worry! I thought you were dead!”

“Sorry.” She looked so tired. 

I hugged her. She seemed surprised, but hugged me back. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,” I told her. “Maybe if I had we could have avoided all this.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But you did the best you could.”

“People died because of me.”

“Don’t blame yourself for what the Mountain Men have done.”

“Where’s your army?” Bellamy asked.

“Gone, just like yours,” she said. “Please tell me one of you has a plan.”

We looked at each other. “Not really,” he answered. “We need to talk to Dante.”

Jasper and Monty hugged Clarke and I leaned against the wall. We were back at square one, no army, and no plan. Maya’s oxygen tank beeped.

“Thirty minutes,” Jasper said. “That can’t be right, we just changed it.” He looked at us. “This is the last tank.”

“We’ll find you another one,” Clarke said.

“All the oxygen supplies are on level five,” Maya said.

“Then we go to level five,” Jasper told her. “We can take the trash chute.”

“Maybe you’ll be able to get in,” Bellamy said. “But every soldier is on that level, you’ll never make it out.”

Jasper shook his head. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll split up. You guys find Dante. We’ll help Maya.” They headed through the door and we followed, splitting ways in the hall.

Jasper, Octavia, Maya, and I climbed the trash chute up to level five. Octavia pushed the door and it popped open. We climbed out and slammed the door behind us. Maya pulled off her helmet and took a few gasping breaths.

“Okay, she’s safe, can we go now?” Octavia asked.

“She can breathe, but she’s not safe,” Jasper said.

“Cage knows I helped you guys,” Maya explained. “He’s on this level.”

Octavia looked annoyed. “Okay so what do we do?”

“We kill Cage,” I said, without hesitation.

Octavia nodded. “I’m in.”

“There’s a guard, he’s on our side,” Maya said. “I can find him, he’ll help.”

“What about the other guards, who aren’t on our side?” Jasper asked. “What if they catch you?”

“We don’t have a choice, wait here.” Maya left, Octavia leaned against the wall, Jasper started pacing.

“So, the Grounder look?” I asked. “Undercover or?”

“I was one of them,” she said. “I proved myself and became a second.”

“Was?”

“When the Grounders got the signal to retreat, I stayed. I couldn’t leave you and Bellamy. Indra told me I was no longer one of them.”

“What about Lincoln?”

“Clarke said the Grounders took him.”

“We’ll get him back,” I said. “We always find a way.”

“We have to get out of this mountain first.”

Jasper was still pacing. “Will you cut it out?” I asked. “You’re making me anxious.”

“What if she got caught? Or couldn’t find him? What if he got caught?” 

“A warrior doesn’t worry about things they can’t control,” Octavia said calmly. I raised an eyebrow at her.

The door opened and we both jumped up. Maya came in with a guard. He looked at us, his eyes landed on Octavia. He raised his gun. I quickly leaped in front of Octavia, though she didn’t look phased, she just reached for her sword. “You didn’t say you brought an Outsider.”

“She’s not an Outsider, she’s with us,” Maya said. The man lowered his gun. “Cage is giving out more doses of the marrow treatment, they’re not even trying to fix the dam.”

“How many soldiers are with Cage?” I asked.

“Um, six,” the solider told me.

I nodded. “Alright, just get me close.” I looked at Octavia. She handed me her knife before I could even ask.

“Make it count, you’ll only get one chance.” I nodded and took the knife.

“If this doesn’t work, I’ll be dead,” I said. “Even if it does work, I’ll probably still be dead. Tell your brother-“

“If you die Bellamy is never going to forgive me for letting you go,” Octavia told me. “So please don’t die, for everyone’s sake.” She hugged me.

I followed the guard into the hall; he grabbed my arms and led me through the mess hall, as if he’d caught me. He led me into a storage room that had been converted into a lab for Dr. Tsing.

A woman was on the table; it took me a moment to recognize her. It was the doctor who’d taken care of me after my arrest; it was Clarke’s mother. My guard chained me up next to Harper, pressing the key into my hand as he did. 

I waited until he was gone to uncuff myself. Then I walked towards Cage, he turned and saw me, holding a knife. A guard started towards me with his gun, but before either of us could act, sirens went off. “Containment breach!” Someone yelled. I watched as blisters covered the skin of the guards. Cage’s eyes widened and he turned around running into the mess hall.

I dropped the knife and went for the keys that would unlock the others’ cuffs. Octavia came in and started helping me. I found Raven and ran towards her, I uncuffed her and she stumbled into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her, before I knew it I was crying. “I’m so sorry for everything I said.”

“It’s okay, I deserved it. I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re my best friend and I screwed you over.”

“Oh my god, I never want to fight with you ever again,” I said. “I thought you were dead!” She laughed, and I was laughing too. “This isn’t funny!”

“I’m just so glad we’re alive.”

I finally let her go and a guy grabbed her. “Hi, I’m Wick.”

“Maia.”

He shook his head. “Of course, I know who you are.” I groaned.

I noticed that Raven was leaning on Wick, and I looked down and noticed that Raven was wearing a brace. “What happened to you leg?”

“Oh this old thing?” She asked, giving her leg a pat. She looked back at me. “Murphy happened.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“There’s nothing you could have done,” she said. “You were a little occupied, what with being kidnapped and everything.”

I turned to see Monty running in, he found Shauna and kissed her. I grinned; I’d seen that coming a mile away. Bellamy was standing in the doorway. “I’ll talk to you later,” I told Raven.

I walked towards Bellamy. “You almost got yourself killed,” he said.

“It would have been worth it, I was going to kill Cage.” I looked around the room. Everyone looked so happy, but in the mess hall behind Bellamy I could see bodies everywhere. “You irradiated the level.”

He nodded. “It was the only way to save our people.” I wrapped my arms around him, he held on to me tightly.

“You did the best you could,” I whispered. “It’ll be okay. Maybe not today, or next week, but eventually. We’ll get through this, together.”

“Together,” he repeated.

OoOoO

Our people returned to the camp they had set up around the fallen Ark. It reminded me of our camp surrounding the drop ship, but on a much larger scale. I dropped back to walk along Clarke as we neared the gates. Bellamy went up ahead.

“Do you love him?” She asked.

“Of course, that was never the problem,” I said.

“Do you trust him?”

I gave her a small smile. “With my life.”

“Good,” she said. “Take care of each other.”

“You’re not coming back, are you?”

She shook her head. “Watch out for the rest of them. They’ll need someone, now more than ever.” She smiled at me sadly. “But I think they’ll be in great hands.”

“Thank you.” I hugged her. “Be careful out there, okay?”

“May we meet again,” she said.

“May we meet again,” I repeated. I turned and walked away from her, back towards camp. Bellamy walked past me; I waited for him by the gate. I looked at my people. The kids who had been inside Mount Weather with me looked fragile and weak, but I knew that they weren’t. Those kids were some of the strongest people I had ever known.

Shauna laid her head on Monty’s shoulder. Miller talked with his dad. Kane was sitting next to Abby. Wick was carrying Raven inside. No one was alone; we were all in this together.

Bellamy touched my arm. “Ready to go inside?” He asked. “I’ll give you a tour.” I smiled up at him and nodded. 

I looked back over my shoulder at Clarke as we walked away. “We all deal with things in our own way. Clarke needs time. This isn’t the last we’ve seen of her, I know it’s not. All we can do now is move forward.” He nodded. “These people are as much my responsibility, as they are yours. I’ve let them down, and I might do it again, I’m not perfect. But I’m going to keep trying; I’m going to do my best to keep them safe. That’s how I’m going to deal with things. How about you?”

He slipped his fingers through mine. “We can deal with this together.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Three Months Later**

I was standing in the dormitory. I was gripping my gun so tightly my hands were aching. Everything was moving in slow motion. The only sound I could hear was my own heavy breathing.

Then the door burst open. Everything suddenly sped up, everything except for me. As I raised my gun, my arm felt as if I was moving through cement. I watched as one of the guards pointed their weapon past me. I turned my head to see Shauna, just as a bullet hit her in the chest.

I gasped and sat up. I wasn’t in Mount Weather anymore. I was in my bed. I was in Arkadia. I was safe. Bellamy pushed himself up on his elbows. “Nightmare?” He asked. I nodded. “Been a while since you had one of those.”

“Every time I have to save someone,” I mumbled. “And every time, I screw up.”

“They’re not real,” he reminded me. “You need Abby to get you something to help you sleep?”

I shook my head. “That only makes them worse. And then I can’t wake up.”

He lay back down and extended his arm. I lay back down facing him, resting my head on his chest. I drew patterns on his shoulder with my finger. We were just quiet for a moment.

“Three months and I’m still not used to this.”

I smiled. “Me either. This bed is way more comfortable than our bed on the Ark.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” He poked at me and I squirmed.

“I know, I know. No more almost dying, or at least no getting separated and almost dying. I’m not so sure the almost dying part can be helped. I’m going to go grey before I’m twenty at this rate.”

“We’re in this together. You’re not going to lose me this time.”

“I love you. But if you don’t shut up and let me get back to sleep, I’m going to lose you on purpose.”

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “I love you.”

OoOoO

I met the trucks returning from Mount Weather. I had volunteered to help catalogue the art and literature recovered from the mountain. It reminded me of my days as the librarian’s assistant. Plus, I got first dibs on anything I wanted from the truck.

I saw Shauna’s hair before I saw her face. She’d had her hair in box braids as long as I’d known her. But after we escaped the mountain, she’d decided she needed a change. It seemed like maintaining natural hair would be a lot easier than a million perfect braids. But then again, the best I could do with my hair was pull it up in a half-decent ponytail.

She hopped out the back and bounded over to me. “Hey, Maia!”

I shook my head. “I still don’t know how you can go back to that place.”

“They needed someone who knew the layout.” She seemed casual, but I knew she had nightmares after our rescue just like me. But Shauna found her peace by confronting her nightmare in the flesh. “And they offered me some of the tech we recovered.”

“Nerd,” I teased. “What’d you bring me today?”

She stuck a hand into her bag. “Grabbed this one for your boyfriend, isn’t your anniversary coming up soon?” I nodded. She handed me a copy of the Iliad. “You said he liked the Greeks.”

“Yeah, Aurora taught Bell and Octavia a ton of Greek mythology growing up. He’ll like this, thanks.”

She reached back into the bag. “And this one is for you.” She put the blue book in my hand. I turned it over.

I looked up at her, wide-eyed. “Is this a first edition?”

She nodded. “Open it.”

I flipped open the cover. There was a scrawled inscription. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

Shauna cackled. “And you call me a nerd!”

“You just handed me a first edition of The Great Gatsby inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald himself. I am allowed to be a nerd for like five minutes,” I said offended. “Where did they even get this?”

“Where did they get Van Gogh’s Sunflowers?” She countered.

“Fair point.” I stuck both the books in my bag and grabbed my tablet out instead. “Okay, let’s get this month’s haul archived.”

OoOoO

I leaned against the wall outside the training room. Bellamy and I were supposed to be going on a mapping run, but he stopped to help Lincoln teach a combat lesson. Finally Bellamy came out into the hall. “Lincoln finally done beating up on you?” I asked.

“Hey, I can hold my own against him.”

“Okay,” I said skeptically.

“Ready for Sector Seven?”

“The Ice Nation border, what could there possibly be to worry about?” I asked. “Maybe we should request extra weapons, just in case. I know it’s against protocol, but I’d feel safer if I had my own gun. I think Raven and Monty would feel the same way.”

“That’s what I was thinking too.” He nodded. “I’ll go talk to Kane, you try to round everyone up?”

I nodded and headed back to the garage. Miller was standing near the door with his back to me. I ran up behind him and knocked one of his legs out from under him. He spun around, almost losing his balance. I socked him in the shoulder and he stumbled back. “Ouch?”

I laughed. “Just testing your reflexes. You might want to go practice with Lincoln some more.”

Raven was fueling the rover. I walked up and pecked her on the cheek. “I get punched and Raven gets a kiss, that seems fair,” Miller protested.

“What can I say? I play favorites.” Truthfully, since Mount Weather, I’d grown closer to all of my fellow delinquents. They were all my people. But I’d chosen Miller for my team specifically. Being trapped in a cabinet with someone really bonds you to them.

“You’re in a good mood,” Raven noted.

“Yeah, I guess I am.” I looked around. “Where are Monty and Jasper?”

“They haven’t shown up yet,” Miller told me. “But are you really surprised?”

I groaned. “Sometimes I question why I haven’t kicked him off this team.”

“I question that too.” It was said light heartedly. But, I knew it wasn’t just Miller that questioned my decision to keep Jasper on the team. Even Bellamy had suggested leaving him behind, but Monty had insisted and I’d agreed.

“I’ll go get them. When Bell comes in here, send him my way. We’re probably gonna need help dragging Jasper.”

I headed to the shop and found Monty sitting at a table, head in his hands. “He’s over there.” He pointed without looking up at me. I walked father into the room and saw Jasper lying under a table.

“Damn it, Jasper,” I mumbled. I looked back at Monty. “It’s been three months, Monty.”

He looked up at me. “I know. I just can’t give up on him, you know?”

“I don’t want to either, but he’s not getting better.” I walked over to him. “We’re going into Sector Seven, if something happens-“

“I’ll take responsibility for him.”

“If one of us gets hurt, it’ll be on me. I’m the one that okayed him to be in the field, even after Abby told me it was a bad idea.”

“Because I asked you to.”

“If someone dies because of him, hell if he gets himself killed, it won’t matter what you said. I’ll be responsible. I don’t know if I can handle any more guilt. I’m not sure you can either.”

Bellamy walked in. “Where is he this time?” I pointed under the table.

“One more chance?” Monty asked me.

I sighed. “Yeah, fine, whatever. But you’ve got to fix this.” I turned to Bellamy. “Help me carry him?” He didn’t look happy, but he grabbed one of Jasper’s arms anyway.

We lugged him back to the garage and let him drop next to the rover. “Monty!” Shauna called.

“I got him,” I told him. “Go say bye to your girlfriend.” I grabbed a bucket of soapy water that Raven had been cleaning the rover’s windows with. I walked over to Jasper and tossed the water in his face. He sat up quickly. “I’d say sorry, but I’m not.”

“Where’s Octavia?” Bellamy asked me.

“Haven’t seen her today, but I told her when we were leaving,” I said.

Bellamy passed out the guns. “What’s the point if we can’t shoot them?” Miller asked.

“We can, just not to kill.” Bellamy handed me one and I looked at it for a moment. There was a time the very thought of touching a gun made me sick. Now here I was asking for one.

Miller, Bellamy, and I climbed into the back. I leaned over the front seat and grabbed Raven’s hand, pulling her up into the driver’s seat. Then I plopped down behind her. Jasper sat in the passenger seat.

Monty was still talking to Shauna. I stood up and stuck my head out the sunroof. “Come on, lovebirds, we’ve got a timetable here!” I shouted at them. Monty gave her a kiss and Shauna flipped me off behind his back. I laughed and ducked back into the rover.

Monty hurried over and jumped into the back with us. I patted Raven on the shoulder. “Let’s go!” She flipped the switch to open the door outside. As the doors slid open, Octavia came into view on her horse. “And there she is, right on time.”

“Try to keep up!” She shouted at us before turning and riding off toward the gate. Raven hit the gas and took off after her.

I lay my head on Bellamy’s shoulder as we all rode in silence. “So anyone know a fun road trip game?” I asked. I looked between Miller and Monty. Miller shrugged.

Jasper started singing badly to the music on his iPod. I wrinkled up my nose. Monty leaned forward and yanked out his headphones. “No way.” Jasper plugged his iPod into the rover’s speakers and an old 80s song started playing. Jasper continued singing along.

Monty started to reach for the iPod but I batted him away. “This is better than silence for two hours.”

I leaned forward and hung on Raven’s seat. She was singing along quietly. I joined in, belting the lyrics in her ear. She laughed and started singing louder. I turned back to Bellamy. He was looking at us all amused, but wouldn’t sing. I rolled over so I was straddling him, almost kicking Monty in the face in the process. I got up in Bell’s face, screaming the song at him. He just laughed.

Jasper turned and crawled into the back. He squeezed my arm as he stood up through the sunroof. I started laughing and collapsed against Bellamy. He put his chin on the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me. For just a minute everything felt right.

The music stopped suddenly and I sat up. I rolled off Bellamy, even less gracefully than I’d gotten there in the first place. Ending up in the floor by Miller’s feet. “What’s that beeping?” I asked.

“A tracking beacon from the Ark,” Monty said, leaping into the front seat. Raven put on the brakes.

“From who?” I asked, sliding forward so I was leaning between Raven and Monty.

Jasper ducked back down behind me. “That was the best part.”

“Farm Station,” he said, looking a little shocked.

“After all this time?” I asked. “Where are they?”

He typed away on the keyboard. Octavia opened the back door of the rover. “Don’t tell me I missed the party.”

“It’s coming from Sector Eight,” Monty told us.

“That’s Ice Nation,” Miller realized.

“Do we go after it?” I asked.

“Protocol says we go back, let the Chancellor decide,” Raven reminded us.

“The Chancellor isn’t from Farm Station,” Bellamy said. “Monty is, so is Miller’s boyfriend.”

I looked up at Monty. “What do you say?”

“Let’s do this.”

I pulled myself back up into my seat. Octavia shut the door and returned to her horse. Raven hit the gas. I clutched my gun. The mood in the rover had done a complete 180. We had all heard the same speech from Lincoln; Azgeda wasn’t to be messed with.


	17. Chapter 17

**MPOV**

The beacon led us straight into the woods. We parked the rover and Octavia tied up her horse. I climbed out of the back and looked around. “How far is the beacon?” I asked.

“200 meters,” Monty said. He walked straight ahead.

Bellamy put a hand on his shoulder. “Slow down.” He turned to the rest of us. “Remember the rules of engagement are nonlethal force.” Raven climbed out of the rover. “Raven, stay in the rover.”

“Yeah, right,” she said. I walked up next to her and the two of us stood next to Bellamy.

“They’re coming,” Monty said. He started counting down the meters. Bellamy raised his gun. “What are you doing? They’re our people.”

“We hope they’re our people.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said. Raven nodded. Three men on white horses appeared through the trees.

“Ice Nation?” Bellamy asked.

“Yeah,” Octavia said. “White war paint.”

“I just wanted to have a good, uneventful day,” I mumbled. “That nightmare was trying to warn me.”

Octavia stepped to the front. “Stay calm,” she said to us. She spoke to the riders in Trigedasleng. I caught a few words, but I wasn’t fluent by any means. She turned back to us. “They think we’re looking for Wanheda.”

“Who’s that?” Bellamy asked.

“I don’t know,” she hissed.

“The light, that’s the beacon,” Monty whispered. I followed his gaze to the grounder in the front. The small flashing beacon was hanging from his belt.

Jasper pushed away from Monty and brushed past Octavia. “Jasper, come back here!” I called.

Octavia grabbed him by the collar, but he pulled away. “It’s okay, I got this.” He walked up to the grounder and yanked the beacon off his belt. “This belongs to us.” He turned with a smug look, but the grounder yanked him back quickly. The man held a knife to Jasper’s neck. I held my breath.

“ _Let him go!”_ Bellamy shouted in Trigedasleng, as Octavia tried to convince them we didn’t know who Wanheda was. I noticed that Jasper was smiling at the same time the man holding him did. The Azgeda warrior said something before cutting into Jasper’s neck.

Bellamy shot the man and he fell to the ground, releasing Jasper. Three more shots rang out. “Hold you fire!” I shouted, too late. Another grounder was already dead.

“Jasper, duck!” Octavia shouted before throwing her knife. It hit the third grounder in the chest.

“Rover one, come in!” Kane called over the walkie-talkie.

Octavia and I ran over to Jasper. “What the hell were you thinking?” I asked.

He held up the beacon with the hand that wasn’t clutching his bleeding neck. “I got this, didn’t I?”

I smacked him in the head. “Idiot! You could have died!”

“He needs medical, now,” Octavia said. Miller was already heading our way with a first aid kit.

I shook my head. “I can’t do this anymore.” I walked over to Bellamy and Raven. “What does Kane want?” I asked.

“He wants us to meet him in Sector Four.”

“Why is he so far away from camp?” I asked confused. He shook his head. I walked back around the truck. “Someone get him back to Arkadia.” I glanced around. “Miller, take one of their horses. Monty come with us.”

“Raven, since you can’t ride, go with Miller,” Bellamy told her. “Let’s go.”

Monty, Bellamy, and I climbed in the rover and sped off to Sector Four. I leaned my head back against the seat. “This is my fault. Jasper almost died because of me.”

“It’s not you fault,” Bellamy said.

I looked over my shoulder at him. “I’ve been watching Jasper go downhill for months. I keep hoping that he’s getting better, keep trying to get through to him.” I shook my head. “It’s not working, nothing is working. I shouldn’t have let him come with us.”

“He’s getting worse,” Monty said. “Getting drunk every night is one thing, but smiling with a knife pressed against your throat? That’s next level damaged.”

“Whatever it is, I’m done with it,” I said. “I can’t keep making excuses for him.” Monty parked the rover and the three of us got out.

“You’re just going to give up on him?” Monty asked me.

“I’m not giving up on him,” I protested. “But I’m responsible for so many people now. Every time I give Jasper a free pass, I’m putting someone else’s life at risk. I have to distance myself from him, it’s for his own good.”

“Sounds a lot like giving up on him to me.”

Bellamy shushed us. I looked ahead and saw Kane walking through the trees with someone from trikru. “Who’s that?” I whispered.

“Indra,” Bellamy told us. The only thing I knew about Indra was that Octavia had been her second before the battle at Mount Weather. “He must have told her we broke the treaty.” Bellamy walked toward Kane. “Before you say anything-“

“We’ll get to that,” Kane said.

“This is about Clarke,” Indra told us.

“What about her?” Bellamy asked.

“She’s being hunted,” she told us. “By everyone.”

**SPOV**

“I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” I said breathing heavily.

“Don’t even start,” Harper said. “I had to go to morning and afternoon training!”

I laughed. “That’s not my fault! I told you to wait for the afternoon session. I had work all morning.”

“I wanted to be there when Lincoln got his jacket.” We walked outside. Abby and Jackson ran past us. Harper and I exchanged confused looks before jogging toward the gate.

Octavia was supporting Jasper, and Raven watched them from a horse. Abby hurried over to them and inspected his neck. Harper and I observed from a distance. Octavia took her horse to the stable. “Be right back,” I told Harper. I followed Octavia. “Hey, we weren’t expecting you guys back so soon. What happened?”

“Ice Nation showed up,” she said. “Jasper shouldn’t have been out there.”

“Monty and Maia?” I asked.

“With Bellamy,” she told me. She led the horse into its pen and gave it some hay. “Kane needed them for something.” She glanced up at me. “They’re all okay.” I nodded.

I looked at her for a minute before taking a few steps back. “Okay, thanks. I’ll let you get back to…Your horse, yeah.” I turned around quickly, but not quick enough to miss her look of amusement. I’d found Octavia intimidating since we first landed. She was popular and outgoing and had everyone wrapped around her finger. But now she was intimidating for entirely different reasons.

OoOoO

That night I was headed into the cantina to meet up with my friends. I turned down the hallway and saw Raven ahead of me. She was walking slowly. Suddenly she slipped and fell.

“Whoa!” I ran over to her. I reached for her arm to pull her up, but she shook me off. Using the wall she managed to pull herself back to her feet. “Come on, I’ll grab you some ice.”

“I’m fine,” she snapped.

“I’m just trying to help,” I said defensively.

“I don’t need your help,” she told me. She stood there staring at me, until I turned around and walked down the hall.

Harper waved me over when I got inside. “I nabbed this for you,” she said handing me some chocolate.

“You know me so well.” I leaned against the table she was standing at with Gena, a girl I worked with. “You find anything good today?” I asked Gena.

“I’m the one who found Starry Starry Night."

“I saw that earlier! That’s crazy. I wonder if Maia’s seen it yet?”

“I think we unloaded it after they left,” Gena told me.

“We have to show her when they get back, she’ll die.”

“Remember that time we had to sneak into the art locker,” Harper started.

“And Maia was so distracted by all the art?” I asked. “She can call me a nerd all she wants, but she’s got the art history books memorized. At least I geek out over practical things.” Harper and Gena laughed.

I saw Raven walk into the room and head our way. She and Gena were sort of friends. I grabbed Harper and steered her toward the bar. “I need a drink.”

“You don’t drink?” Harper asked confused.

“I’d rather not be forced to make small talk with Raven.” Harper gave me a questioning look. I shook my head. “I just forget sometimes that we can’t all be Maia.”

“Maia hasn’t really been Maia as of late.”

“She’s just stressed,” I assured her. “Clarke left some pretty big shoes to fill. She’s just trying to figure out how to be Clarke without actually turning into her, you know? It’s trial and error.”

Jasper walked in and I waved at him. He ignored me. I groaned. “Hold on, I’m gonna go talk to Jasper."

“You sure you wanna do that?”

“I’m his friend, he’s just got to remember that.” I walked up to him. He looked livid, and I began to regret my decision.

He walked up to a man going through a basket of clothing from Mount Weather. Jasper snatched the clothes from his hands. “These belonged to someone!” He threw them down.

“Jasper, calm down!” I turned to see Raven on my heels.

“So did that piano.” He walked over to where a boy was playing. I grabbed his arm but he shook me off. Jasper tackled the piano player to the ground. Everyone in the cantina stopped to watched the proceedings.

“Help me grab him!” Raven shouted. The boy punched Jasper and he stumbled back. I grabbed his arms and pulled him back. Raven stepped in front of the other boy.

Once Jasper calmed down I let him go. “Grave robbers,” he mumbled. “Even you.” He walked away from me.

I started to follow him, but Raven put her hand on my arm to stop me. “Let him go, Shauna. He’ll come around eventually.”

“When?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Give him time.”

**MPOV**

Kane and Indra joined us in the rover. Indra had an idea where we could start looking for Clarke so we were heading that direction. It was going to be sundown before we reached out destination and I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. I still liked being in the woods, but I preferred them during the day.

“We’re almost out of range,” Monty told Kane. “You sure you don’t want to tell the Chancellor.”

“I don’t want to worry her until we know something,” Kane said. Abby would drop everything to look for her daughter, especially if she knew Clarke was in danger. But, she had responsibilities as Chancellor and head doctor that Kane couldn’t let her neglect.

Personally I didn’t think it mattered what Kane told her. Abby was already distracted. Her two jobs had her stretched way too thin. She’d tended to wounded kids when we all escaped the mountain. But since then, she’d barely paid us any attention. Beamy was the one to decide we needed to train with Lincoln and I was the one to ask he teach us Trigedasleng. We were the ones looking out for our people.

As far as the remaining half of the hundred were concerned, Abby was nothing more than their doctor. My friends weren’t the only ones either. The Commander had chosen Clarke to lead negotiations on behalf of Skaikru. After that, people in Arkadia began to question Abby’s authority. That is, they did until Clarke abandoned them.

“You said everyone is hunting Clarke, but why?” I asked Indra. I turned around to look at her in the back.

“My people believe that when you kill someone you take their power. Since Mount Weather, the stories about Clarke have become exaggerated. She’s become known as Wanheda, the commander of death."

“The Ice Nation scouts were looking for Wanheda,” Bellamy noted.

“She’s just one girl,” Kane said.

“So was the Commander. What Clarke did at Mount Weather, weakened her and the coalition. The Queen of the Ice Nation wants Clarke’s power. If her people believe she has it, she’ll break away from the coalition and start a war.”

“Great, just what we need,” I mumbled. “Another war.”

A beeping alerted us that we’d crossed the border into another sector. “Welcome to Sector Seven, where to now?” Monty asked.

“If she’s here, she’ll need supplies,” Indra said. “We’ll start at the trading post." 

OoOoO

I was dozing off in the passenger seat when Monty slammed on the breaks. I lurched forward. “What?” I looked outside. A huge tree had fallen across the path.

“We have to move it,” Monty said. He and Bellamy moved to get out.

“Wait,” Indra said. “It’s been cut down.”

I looked out the window, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark. Bellamy stood up to look out the sunroof. Just as he did, another tree fell down behind us. We were trapped.


	18. Chapter 18

**MPOV**

We waited three hours for an attack, but none came. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence that two trees fell on either side of our rover,” Monty said.

“On a perfectly clear night?” Indra asked. “Unlikely.”

“It was a joke,” he mumbled.

“I say we make a run for it,” I said.

“Some of us can’t run as fast as you,” Bellamy reminded me.

“Well, we’re sitting ducks here.”

“She’s right. They can wait much longer out there, than we can in here,” Indra said.

Kane nodded. “Bellamy, you go up in the turret and cover us. When we get to that ridge over there, we’ll cover you.”

Bellamy nodded. “Copy that. Run fast.” Monty and I prepared to open the front doors, while Indra crouched by the back. Bellamy opened the sunroof and stood up. “They’re here.”

I whirled around, pointing my gun up at the opening. I could just make out another figure holding Bellamy in a chokehold. “Everyone out, or the boy dies,” a man called down to us. Bellamy was pulled out the roof.

I lunged to grab his legs, but he was gone too quickly. “Bell!” I shouted.

“Okay, okay, we’re coming!” Kane called. “Don’t hurt him!” He looked at each of us before opening the back door. We were all yanked from the rover and thrown to the ground. Someone knelt on my back, pressing me into the dirt.

“All targets secured!” Another voice shouted. I found it odd that this group of grounders were choosing to speak English to each other. I tried to raise my head from the ground to get a better look, but was quickly shoved back down.

I saw Monty pulled to his feet out of the corner of my eye. “Got it!” Someone said.

“Give it back, that’s mine!” Monty protested.

“Monty, let it go!” Bellamy told him.

There was a pause. “Monty?” A woman asked.

Another pause. “Mom?” Monty asked quietly. There was a long moment where no one was saying anything. All I could see was dirt.

“Farm station stand down!”

Slowly the person holding me to the ground stood up. I pushed myself up to my knees and spat dirt out of my mouth. I sat there for a moment looking at the others. “Pike?” Kane asked. The man who’d grabbed Bellamy pulled off his mask; it was my old Earth Skills teacher. Pike helped Kane up and gave him a hug.

Bellamy pulled me up to my feet. I stood next to him, holding onto his arm for a moment. “Where’s dad?” Monty asked his mom.

Pike and the other glanced at her. “Your father didn’t make it.” She hugged him.

“This is crazy,” I whispered to Bellamy. “Almost four months since the Ark came down. They’ve been on their own this whole time?”

“Grounder killers one and all, am I right?” Pike called to his ground. He was answered with a unanimous “Hoo-rah!” I glanced at Indra.

Bellamy stepped away from me toward Pike and Kane. “Hate to cut the reunion short, but we’ve got to find Clarke.”

“Clarke Griffin?” Pike asked. “If only all my Earth Skills students were as good as her.” He grinned. “It’s good to see you.” Pike and Bellamy shook hands. I walked over. “Maia Farrin, another star student. No Clarke, however.”

“As if I needed reminding. I was the best in my year though,” I reminded him. “If you hadn’t made that final a group project, I would’ve aced it.”

He laughed. “That’s probably true. I hope you’ve learned team skills since then.”

“Totally, I’m a real team player these days.”

He patted me on the back. “You always were funny.”

I looked over at Bellamy. “Back me up here?”

“She’s not the same girl she was a year ago,” Bellamy admitted. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Hey!” I hit him in the arm. “Stop standing around and help me move this tree.”

“Help them!” Pike called to his people.

Monty joined us. “You okay?” I asked as we both lined up to push the tree.

“I have to be,” he said. Everyone shoved and the tree finally gave away.

When we stood up, I grabbed Monty’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t forget I’m here for you.”

He squeezed my hand back, and tried to smile. “I know.”

“Kane, let’s go!” Bellamy called.

Pike ordered a few of his men to send word of Arkadia back to their camp. “Mount up, we’re going back into hell!”  

**SPOV**

I found out from Harper that Jasper had a follow up appointment with Abby. So I was waiting outside to ambush him when he got out. I was tired of waiting around for him to forgive me. It was time we talked.

I was almost knocked over as Octavia ran past me into the clinic. Lincoln and a guard walked by a moment later, carrying a grounder on a stretcher. I followed them inside. Jasper glanced at me, but he was more interested in the bleeding grounder.

“It’s Nyko,” Octavia said.”

“He said it was Azgeda,” Lincoln said.

“Where?” Abby asked. Lincoln shook his head. Abby and Jackson went to work. “We can stop the flow, but he’s lost too much blood.”

Jackson checked his blood type and his face fell. “RH Null.” Abby looked up.

“What’s the problem?” Octavia asked. “We’re universal donors, take mine.”

“RH Null can only take RH Null,” Abby explained.

“So can you save him or not?” She asked.

“Not here,” Jackson told her. We all looked at him. “Mount Weather has state of the art medical facilities. They needed blood for survival and it’s all still there.”

Abby looked conflicted. She looked up at Lincoln. “You told me that our supply runs were putting us at risk. How would you advise me now?”

Lincoln looked at his friend. “Save him.”

“I’ll drive,” I offered. “I know all the shortcuts.”

OoOoO

I flew down our makeshift road toward Mount Weather. There were a few spots through the woods that were a little sparse. Someone who knew what they were doing could navigate a rover through those tight spaces. Luckily for our bleeding grounder, I was one of those people.

I pulled into the large garage doors at Mount Weather and stopped. Abby and Jackson wasted no time getting Nyko out of the car and into the facility. Lincoln and Octavia jogged behind them.

This left Jasper and me alone. He took his time getting out of the rover. “Welcome back to hell,” I muttered. He looked jumpy. “I haven’t bumped into any ghosts yet, if that makes you feel better.”

“How do you stand it?” He asked.

“It was hard at first, when the nightmares were bad,” I said. “But the more I came back, the more I realized that this is just a building. Evil is in people, not places.”

“People died here.”

I shrugged. “People died out there too,” I reminded him. “Maybe taking a walk around will help you. It helped me.”

**MPOV**

It was a tight fit with Hannah Green and Pike in the rover, but luckily we were close to the trading post. I was the first out of the rover. I headed over to the door, but stopped when I heard a crash inside. A man was yelling something in Trigedasleng. Bellamy walked up beside me and the two of us went inside together.

A grounder stood over a woman on the floor, for a moment I thought it might be Clarke. Bellamy shot the grounder. His body fell to the side and the woman stood up. Definitely not Clarke.

“Bounty hunter,” Indra told us, stepping over the body. To the woman, she added in Trigedasleng, “ _We’re here to help_.”

“English!” Pike snapped.

“It’s okay,” Kane told him. “Take Monty and Hannah and secure the perimeter.”

“ _We’re looking for Wanheda_ ,” Indra told her.

The woman looked down at the dead bounty hunter. “So was he.”

“Please,” I said. “She’s in trouble.”

The woman stepped toward us. She looked us over. “You’re Skaikru?” We nodded. “She was here last night, but she left before I woke up.”

“Did she give any indication of where she might be going?” Kane asked.

She shook her head. “No, but he did. He said his partner came back for her. He was Ice Nation.”

“Thank you,” Bellamy told her.

“I hope you find her.”

Monty came inside. “Good news, I found fresh tracks.”

“Great, start the rover,” Bellamy told him.

“That’s the bad news, too many trees. We have to go on foot.”

We headed outside. “Get what you need from the rover,” Kane told us. “We’ll leave it here and come back for it later.”

“Raven is so not going to like that,” I said. Bellamy laughed.

OoOoO

We followed the tracks to a clearing. Indra stopped walking and glanced around. “Listen.”

“War drums?” I asked.

She nodded. “Azgeda.” She pointed ahead of us. The bodies of three Ice Nation men were in our path.

“We’ve got to get those bodies off the field,” Pike said. “Unless we want them to think we had something to do with that.” He and Hannah ran over to the bodies.

Movement on the other side of the field caught my attention and I pointed it out. “Are those people?” I asked.

Bellamy looked through the scope of riffle. “It’s Clarke.” He started off toward them, but I grabbed his arm. “Let’s go!”

I pointed back at the trees. “That army is closer to us than Clarke is. If we go after her now, Ice Nation will see us, and they’ll follow. Then we all end up dead, and the Queen gets her war.”

“She’s right,” Monty said coming up behind me. “Look.” Bellamy looked through his scope at the tree line where the Azgeda army had appeared. “There’s a cave over there. We can probably make it, if we stay low.”

Bellamy reluctantly followed us to the cave. He paced in the entryway, and I pulled him further in. “We’re losing her.”

“Relax, save your energy,” Kane said. “The army will move soon.”

“You’ll need your energy for what comes next,” Pike told him. Bellamy turned back toward the mouth of the cave. I followed him and sat down.

“I can’t just sit here, not when she’s this close.” He glanced at the three dead Ice Nation men, then back at me.

I shook my head. “Bell, no.”

“If they think I’m one of them, it won’t be hard to get across the field.”

“Or worst case scenario, they catch you and kill you,” I snapped. “I’ll go. I’m sneakier than you.”

“And you’re also too small to fit in these clothes,” he pointed out. “You’d stand out.”

I stared at him for a moment. “Fine, let’s do this before someone notices.” I helped him remove the clothing from one of the grounders get dressed.

“How do I look?” He asked.

I tilted my head. “Well, you’re missing the war paint, and the scars…” I looked down at the bodies. One of them had been wearing a mask. I snatched it off his face. “Here, this will help a little bit.” He reached for the mask, but before I let it go I leaned up and kissed him. “Please be careful.”

He nodded and took the mask. “I love you.”

I sighed. “I love you too.” I waited until he was out of site before turning back to the cave.

**SPOV**

After a snack run I went looking for Jasper. It wasn’t hard. All I had to do was follow the sounds of priceless artwork being destroyed. “Jasper!” I shouted, as I ran into the art storage room.

“I can’t find it!” He shouted as he broke one of the shelves, sending rolled canvases flying. Then he stepped back holding a frame.

“That was Maya’s favorite, wasn’t it?” I asked.

He looked up at me, as if he hadn’t even noticed me come in. “Yeah.” He propped it up on a podium that had held a gorgeous Greek statue, until he knocked it off. He sat down a few feet away to look at it.

“I know you miss her.” I sat down next to him. “She was a good person.”

“There were a lot of good people here.”

I nodded. “You’re right. Some really amazing people tried to help us, but it didn’t work. Clarke and Bellamy did what they thought was best for our people.”

“If they had just waited, if they’d let Maia have a few more minutes-“

“Then Maia would be dead,” I told him. “And maybe nothing would’ve changed. Cage was the leader, but do you really think his followers would have stopped? And even if they did, what sort of life would the people of Mt. Weather have ended up with?”

“You’re saying it was a mercy killing?”

“I’m saying that without our marrow, they either would have continued using the grounders, or they would have died.” I shook my head. “There aren’t any winners here, no matter the outcome.”

He looked at the painting for a long time. I didn’t think he was going to say anything else. I glanced over. Tears had spilled over and were running down his cheeks. “I miss her.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “It’ll get better.”


	19. Chapter 19

**MPOV**

I was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cave. I’d folded Bellamy’s uniform and was holding it in my lap. Monty came around the corner. “Where’s Bellamy?”

I shrugged. “He went after Clarke.”

“And you let him go?” Kane asked, coming up behind Monty.

“Please, you’ve met Bellamy. He really doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“The army’s gone,” Pike said. “We can move out.” We gathered our things and headed back across the field in the direction we’d seen Clarke go.

Monty and I lead the way through the trees, following the trail. Finally I saw Bellamy up ahead. He was struggling to walk, leaning on trees every few steps. “Bell!” I called. I ran to catch up with him. “What happened?”

“I found her,” he told me. I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and he leaned on me for support. “The bounty hunter that has her stabbed me.”

“We told you to wait for the troops to move out,” Kane reprimanded him. “Pike, find their trail.”

“It’s useless now,” Pike told him. “He knows they’re being followed.”

“So we’re just giving up?” Bellamy asked. He struggled to take a step forward and I was pulled along with him.

“Bell, stop,” I told him. “You can barely walk. You need medical attention.”

“We can’t lose Clarke.”

“I’ll go,” I told him. “I’ll find her.”

Monty came up behind me and grabbed my shoulder. “It’s too dangerous. The bounty hunter will be on the lookout.”

“This is my area of expertise.” I looked between him and Bellamy. I was ready to pass Bellamy off to Monty and head off.

Bellamy shook his head. “No, he’s right. It’s too dangerous, I can’t lose you either.”

“We should get back to the rover before the sun goes down,” Monty said. He walked around to Bellamy’s other side to help me hold him up.

OoOoO

A few days later, we received word from Polis that Clarke was there. Abby and Kane were planning to go to the coalition summit to retrieve her. Thanks to Bellamy’s solo hunt for Clarke and the Jasper incident, he and I weren’t invited. Instead, we were being sent to Mount Weather to take Farm Station supplies.

The morning of our trip, I awoke sweaty and breathing heavy. I climbed out of bed quickly, waking Bellamy up. “Nightmare,” I mumbled before he had a chance to ask. “I’m going to go shower and start packing the rover.” I started gathering my things, but Bellamy pulled me back down into bed.

He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned back against him. “Happy anniversary.”

I smiled. “So are we pretending that we didn’t spend over half a year separated then?”

“Yes, I like that idea,” he said. “Does that mean we weren’t supposed to do gifts again?”

I slid out of his arms and walked over to my dresser. I opened the top drawer and pushed aside a few shirts. I pulled out the copy of the Iliad that Shauna had found. “Obviously I didn’t pick this out myself.” I handed it to him. “But Shauna always has my back.”

He laughed and took the book. “Well, I’m glad someone cares.”

“Hey!” I snatched the book back. “If you’re gonna be that way!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

“If I didn’t talk about you all the time, Shauna would’ve had no idea what to grab. She might have taken 10,000 Leagues Under The Sea instead.” He made a face. “See?” I crossed my arms. “What’d you get me then, Mr. High-and-mighty?”

He smiled and dug around in his backpack. “Close your eyes.” I sighed and did as I was told. He put something over my head. I reached up to touch it and he batted my hand away. I waited until he’d pulled my hair out from under the string. “Okay, go.”

I opened my eyes and stood up so I could look in the mirror. A flat orange stone lay on my chest, with three small black pearls on either side. “Is this-?”

“The stone from your bracelet,” he said. “Abby gave it to me a few months ago, she kept it all this time. The pearls I grabbed from the hallway after-“

“You made this?” I asked, cutting him off. Not wanting any old wounds to ruin today.

“There’s seven beads on there, it wasn’t too complicated,” he said sheepishly. “Do you like it?”

I sat back down next to him. “I love it.”

He smiled. “I love you.” I leaned in and kissed him.

“The stone is for good luck, isn’t it?” He nodded. “Well, I guess it already saved my life once. Maybe it’ll do it again.”

OoOoO

After a shower I headed to the rover to start loading up. On the way I crossed paths with Lincoln. I looked him over. “Nice jacket.”

“Octavia didn’t like it either,” he noted.

“For good reason. People in those jackets were the source of pretty much all our problems on the Ark.”

“Your boyfriend wears one too, how’d you get past it?”

I shrugged. “I mean, I didn’t, not really. If I were past it, I’d be wearing one too. Well, that and they didn’t have one available in my size.” He smiled. “I don’t know how much Octavia told you about me. When I was arrested back on the Ark, things didn’t really go so smoothly. I fought back and almost died. I killed someone in the process. Every time I see those jackets I’m reminded of that man, that he probably had a family, and I took him away from them.”

“You did what you had to.”

I shook my head. “Not in that instance. It took me a long time after that to realize sometimes you do have to fight back.” I sighed. “As far as Octavia goes, she’ll come around. That jacket doesn’t mean what it used to, eventually she’ll realize that.”

“Have you seen her today?” He asked.

“No, but we’re heading to Mount Weather this afternoon.”

“She’s going to Mount Weather?”

I nodded. “She didn’t tell you?”

He shook his head. “I’m going to go look for her. Talk to you later, Maia.”

As he headed the opposite direction, I called, “If you find her, tell her she can’t bring the horse!”

**SPOV**

“Shauna, I’ve got so much crap to do before we head to the mountain,” Maia said. I led her down the hall covering her eyes.

“Can you please just hush?” I asked. “This is only going to take five minutes.” I pushed her into the storage room and let her go.

She glanced around. “Is this one of Bell’s elaborate surprises?”

I laughed. “Bellamy didn’t have anything to do with this.” I walked over to the painting and pulled the sheet off it. Maia gasped.

“Starry Starry Night?” She walked over toward it slowly. “This is amazing.”

“I know you’d been hoping we’d find it since I brought back Sunflowers,” I said. “We found it last week, but you’ve been so busy-“

“I would’ve made time for this!” She protested. I laughed again. She sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of it. The next thing I knew she was crying.

“Oh my god, you nerd,” I whispered.

“I wish things were still easy.” I sat down next to her. “I never wanted this. I didn’t ask for these responsibilities. I can’t do this, I don’t deserve all of you.”

“Maia, what are you talking about?” I asked.

“I always knew I’d let everyone down. I can’t make the tough decisions, I’m a pushover, I keep-“

“Hey.” I grabbed her shoulder and made her face me. “Listen to me. Stop trying to be Clarke. You’ll never be Clarke.”

Maia sniffled. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“We don’t need another Clarke. We need Maia. You’re the reason that forty-two of us made it out of that mountain alive. If you hadn’t stepped up, we’d all be dead. Clarke left us.”

“She went for help,” she murmured.

“Yes, and we’re all thankful that she did,” I said. “But the point is, you stayed. You fought back. You gave the rest of us hope when we needed it the most. We would have given up without you.”

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“Yes, you do. What you did in Mount Weather? That was all instinct. No one asked you to do that.”

“Dante did,” she reminded me.

I rolled my eyes. “Maia, can you just shut up and let me give you a pep talk?” She sighed. “I know you want Clarke to come back and take all the pressure off your shoulders. I know you want to run. But you can’t, and you can’t keep trying to force yourself into shoes that are too small for you either.”

“Clarke’s feet are probably bigger than mine.”

I stared at her. “Girl, I swear you are testing my patience right now.” Maia cracked a smile. “What I’m saying is, you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to be Clarke. Be your own person. You were built for this, just trust yourself.”

“Thanks, Shauna.”

I gave her a hug and stood up. “You stay here for a minute and pull yourself together. I’m going to go tell my boyfriend goodbye before we hit the road.”

OoOoO

I found Monty in his room. “Knock, knock.”

He turned around and saw me. “Hey, Shauna. You guys about to leave?”

I nodded. “Yeah, everyone’s loading up. Are you okay? You look tired.”

He shrugged. “Just worried about Jasper.”

“Give him space,” I suggested. “Everyone’s been hounding him to clean up his act, obviously it’s not helping. He has issues he needs to work out on his own.”

“You sound like Maia, she’s giving up on him.”

“Maia isn’t giving up on Jasper. He’s her friend, nothing will ever change that. But she has a lot more to worry about than a self-destructive alcoholic.” I shrugged. “Maybe you should take a page out of her book.”

“You know I can’t.”

I sighed. “I know. Just promise me you won’t let him drag you down with him.” He put his hand on my cheek and looked at me for a moment, then leaned in and kissed me. I smiled. “That wasn’t a promise, but I’m not complaining.”

“Bishop, where are you?” A voice called from my radio.

I groaned. “On my way, Reyes."

“Hurry up or we’re leaving without you.”

I groaned. “She knows where I am. Can she not just give me five minutes? Maia wasn’t even near ready last time I checked.”

“Want me to walk you to the rover?” He asked.

I sighed. “No, that’s fine. You probably have stuff to do. I’ll see you when I get back.”

**MPOV**

We pulled up outside of Mount Weather. It was the first time that I’d been back since everything happened. Octavia and I were the first out of the rover. “I hate riding in this thing,” Octavia mumbled.

I walked around to the drivers door and gave Raven a hand. She climbed out, grunting more than usual. I raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine, doctor,” she said sarcastically.

“Okay, Tiny Tim. Race you inside?”

“Bitch,” she said. But she laughed and slung her arm around me. The two of us headed toward the door.

“You two gonna grab any of these bags?” Bellamy called after us.

“No thanks,” Raven shouted over her shoulder. “Did I ever tell you about the time I saved Sinclair’s ass on the Ark?” She asked, once Gina and Shauna caught up with us.

“Not this again,” I said, shaking my head.

“You mean that time you went rogue on a spacewalk?” Gina asked.

“I haven’t heard it,” Shauna said.

“See, someone cares.” Raven hip bumped me. I hung back while Raven moved over to Shauna and launched into her story.

As we walked down the hall I could hear music. It was louder and more alive than I remembered the mountain ever being. We reached the dining hall, Farm Station crew sat around the tables eating and talking. I stopped walking suddenly and Octavia almost ran into me. 

“You okay?” Bellamy asked.

I shook my head. “I’m gonna get some fresh air.” I made a beeline for the exit. As I was walking down the hall, it was almost as if it was growing father and father away from me. I picked up the pace until I was almost running. When I got to the door, I pushed, but it didn’t budge. I tried again, this time the door squeaked open. I ran outside and stood in the middle of the field for a moment.

I tried to remind myself that everything was over. I was safe. That mountain couldn’t hurt me anymore.


	20. Chapter 20

**MPOV**

“Maia!” Octavia shouted. I turned around. She was standing in the doorway. She climbed up on top of the entrance, and motioned for me to join her. I walked over and climbed the ladder. “You looked a little freaked in there." 

“To put it lightly,” I murmured. “Seeing all those people in that room…I killed people in there.”

“People who were trying to kill you.”

I nodded. “I don’t regret it. I did what I had to do. But being in there again, it just feels like it never really ended. Like I’ll turn a corner and Dr. Tsing is going to be there, waiting to shove me in a cage."

“Kane should’ve sent you to the Summit,” she said.

“My Trigedasleng is terrible,” I reminded her.

She shrugged “A good learning experience.”

We sat in silence for a while. “I don’t want you to leave,” I said finally.

She looked at me and gave me a sad smile. “It’s for the best.”

“I know,” I mumbled. “Can you believe it was a decade ago that I knocked on your door and scared the hell out of Aurora? I thought she was going to strangle me right there in the hallway when I told her I brought you a present.”

Octavia laughed. “I wish I remembered that. I barely remember life before you showed up. I’m pretty sure I thought you were my sister for two years.”

“Do you ever miss it? The Ark, I mean.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I spent most of my life hiding under the floor.”

“Yeah, and I was a criminal,” I said. “But I mean the good moments.”

“Like how we all made spaghetti together for every single birthday. Bell never failed to burn the sauce.”

I laughed. “He always thought it was so good and no one had the heart to tell him.”

She shook her head. “I’d always put mine on the side and just eat the noodles plain. Plain noodles four times a year, for a decade.”

“Remember how you’d wake me up when you had a nightmare, and we’d sit in the living room listening to music?”

“And we always ended up waking Aurora up?”

I nodded. “And she’d always be so mad, because she just knew someone would call the guard on us and you’d be caught.”

“Never happened.”

The door below us opened. Bellamy walked out and looked around, before noticing us above him. He climbed up to join us. “What’re you two talking about?”

“We were just reminiscing,” I said. Bellamy sat down on the other side of Octavia.

“Yeah, about how you made the worst spaghetti sauce in the entire universe.”

“Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

Octavia and I shared a look. “Yes, it was.”

“You know, I haven’t missed you two ganging up on me.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” I mumbled.

Octavia glanced at me and then back at Bellamy. “I’m sorry, Bell. I don’t fit in here.”

He looked at her for a moment. “If you need to leave, I get that. But you’ll always fit in with us.” I leaned my head on Octavia’s shoulder. So much had happened but these two would always be my family.

Two guards came through the trees dragging a grounder. “What now?” The three of us jumped up and climbed down the ladder.

“Echo?” Bellamy murmured, as we got closer.

“You know her?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah, she’s Ice Nation. She was in the cage next to mine.”

“What’s going on?” I called to the Farm Station guards.

“Found her on the perimeter,” one of them told me. “She threatened the Summit.”

“Bellamy?” Echo called.

“Let her go,” Bellamy told the guards. They pushed her down to her knees. Octavia cut her free and helped her to her feet. “What’s going on?”

“The Summit is a trap, the assassin’s already there. At sundown your people will die.”

**SPOV**

I was in the control room working on the security system. It had been on the fritz, but Sinclair assured me they’d checked the cameras and nothing was wrong there. Raven popped her head in. “Hey, they’re calling us for a meeting.”

“I’m just starting to get somewhere here,” I told her. “What’s so important?”

She shrugged. “Dunno, but they need everyone, now.” I groaned and got up. Raven hobbled along next to me but didn’t say anything. When we got to the dinning hall everyone was up and moving.

It was weird seeing this many people back in Mount Weather. I thought that the months I’d spent here had numbed me to this place, but this brought everything back. Maia waved us over. “What’s up?” Raven asked.

“The Summit is an attack,” Maia said. “We don’t have much time.”

“An attack? Do we have confirmation of that?” Sinclair asked.

“We radioed but no one answered,” Bellamy told him.

“They might already be dead,” Pike said. “And if they are, we should be ready to retaliate.”

“Don’t make this about the missiles,” Sinclair said.

“This is about survival, and those missiles even the playing field.”

“Even if I agreed with you, we still don’t have the launch codes.”

“No, but you have us,” Raven said. She gestured between herself and me.

“They do?” I squeaked.

“Come on, Bishop. You know this computer system like the back of your hand.”

“Your right but-“

“This way,” Sinclair said, motioning for us to follow.

OoOoO

An hour later we were nowhere with the launch codes. “Damn it,” Raven muttered.

“What happened to that confidence, Reyes?” Sinclair asked.

“It’s a twelve digit launch code, give me a minute.”

“Bishop?” Sinclair asked.

“I’m running numbers as fast as I can but there’s a trillion combinations. I’m trying to go through the files I pulled off Dante’s computer, maybe it’s in here somewhere.”

“How is the president going to remember a number that long?” Gina asked. “Maybe he wrote it down somewhere.”

“That’d be like setting the code to all 0s,” Raven said.

“Well, it’s better than anything we’ve got so far,” Sinclair said. “Go check it out.”

“I’ll be there in a second,” I told her. “I might need to get back into the original files on Dante’s computer.”

**MPOV**

We parked the rover outside of Polis; right behind the truck Kane and Abby had taken. It was quiet. “Where are the guards?” Bellamy asked. “Protocol is to leave someone here.”

I hopped out of the rover behind Octavia. The two of us walked up to the truck. We saw the bodies at the same time. “They did,” she called.

“We’ve got to get inside before the attack,” I said.

Octavia pointed out the sign that read “No Weapons Past This Point” and shook her head. “I’m not leaving my blade.”

“None of us are,” Echo said.

My hand touched the handgun I had holstered. “Maybe we should go for weapons we can conceal,” I said. “Draw less attention to ourselves.”

“I didn’t bring a pistol,” Pike said, “and I’m not taking any chances.”

“Neither am I,” Bellamy agreed.

“We go in through the tunnels,” Echo told us. “The entrance is this way.” Pike and Bellamy followed behind her. Octavia and I brought up the rear.

We walked through the dimly lit tunnels under the city. I could tell Octavia wasn’t thrilled with it. “Wouldn’t it just make more sense to go in through the front door,” I mumbled. “Trikru has no idea this assassination attempt is happening, we could just…tell them.”

Octavia glanced at me. “You could’ve said something before we got all the way down here.”

“Does nothing about this seem off to you?”

“Well, it smells like something died in here, but…”

“Not the smell, though you’re right it is pretty awful.” I shook my head. “I don’t know, obviously something is going on. Those guards didn’t just slit their own throats. Maybe I’m being paranoid.”

“The elevator shaft is just ahead,” Echo told us. She stopped us at a turn and Bellamy peeked around the corner.

“Two guards,” he informed us.

“They control the elevator,” Echo said. “We have to climb up, it’s the only way.”

“I’ve got the left,” Pike told Bellamy. He headed toward the grounders without another word, Bellamy followed. Octavia jumped toward them but I grabbed her arm.

As soon as the guards were taken care of, Echo nodded for us it was clear to go. I glanced down at the bodies. “What’s wrong with you? You didn’t have to kill them,” Octavia said looking between Bellamy and Pike.

Bellamy glanced at Pike, then back to Octavia. “Yeah, we did.”

Octavia looked at me. I tried to reason myself out of my gut instinct: knocking out those guards would’ve been more than enough. “How many floors do we climb?” I asked Echo.

“All of them.”

I glanced up the elevator shaft. I couldn’t see the top. “Great.”

OoOoO

After what seemed like ages, we finally reached the top. I offered Octavia a hand to pull her up to the top. Echo was next. She motioned for us to follow her down the hall. I could hear singing through the doors at the end of the hall. We all stood around the door for a moment. Pike nodded and Bellamy kicked in the door.

Bellamy, Pike, and Octavia drew their weapons on the grounders inside. I glanced around, looking for the Ice Nation assassin, holding my gun low. “What is the meaning of this?” A woman asked from the front of the room, I assumed it must be the Commander.

“The Summit is a trap,” Bellamy said. “Ice Nation planned to kill our people.”

“Azgeda did not storm the Summit with weapons, breaking out laws,” a man with Ice Nation scars said.

“The two guards you left are already dead,” Pike told Abby and Kane. “We need to go.”

“How did you come by this information?” The Commander asked.

I glanced around, expecting Echo to come forward. “Where the hell is Echo?” Octavia asked.

**SPOV**

Gina came on over the radio. “Hey, I got nothing.”

Raven picked it up. “Same here. Keep looking and we’ll do the same.”

“Okay, will-“ Gina cut off mid-sentence.

“Gina?” Raven called. “Gina!” Raven kept trying, but Gina didn’t respond.

“Maybe her radio ran out of battery?” I suggested unconvincingly.

“We have a problem,” Gina said finally. “A grounder set off a self destruct sequence, he has the codes on his arm. You have to get them.”

Sinclair took off. “I saw that protocol in Dante’s files,” I told Raven. “I think I can turn it off.”

“Shauna, we don’t know how much time we have-“ Raven started.

“Then get me that code.” I sprinted down the hall toward Dante’s office. When I threw the door open I found Gina on the ground, in a pool of her own blood. I slid to my knees next to her. Her pulse was weak, but she was still alive. “Stay with me, Gina! We’re gonna be okay!”

I looked at the display, sixteen seconds. I reached under the desk for the lever to slide open the control panel, but I couldn’t find it. I knew there was a manual override. I’d studied the original Mount Weather plans a million times. The government was paranoid; they had overrides for their overrides. But if I couldn’t get that panel open…

Six seconds. “Gina, Shauna, do you copy?” Raven shouted over the radio.

I pulled the radio from Gina’s hands. “I’m here.” Four seconds.

Raven started reading off the code. Three seconds. My fingers were shaky as I pressed the numbers. Two seconds. There were too many numbers and Raven was talking so fast. “Last one?” I asked. One second. I was clutching the radio so tightly. I hadn’t even noticed I was still pressing the talk button. Too late to ask again. I looked at the display, and guessed.


	21. Chapter 21

**MPOV**

"Echo's gone," I mumbled.

"I don't understand," Bellamy said. "The guards outside..."

Kane stepped forward and took the gun from Bellamy's hand. "Stand down."

"Maia, come in," Raven said. It took me a moment to remember the radio strapped to my hip.

"Raven, this isn't really the best time-"

"The grounders attacked Mount Weather," she said, cutting me off.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's all gone. Sinclair and I are the only ones left." I looked up at Kane and Bellamy. "Shauna tried, I thought..." I could tell she was crying, and then the radio went quiet.

"This was a distraction," I realized.

The head of the Ice Nation delegation stepped forward. "Skaikru should never have moved back into the mountain. Azgeda did what the Commander was too weak to do."

"This is an act of war," the Commander said. "Arrest the Azgeda delegation." Her men moved quickly, taking the scar faced grounders from the room.

"We need to get back to camp," Abby said. "If they attacked Mount Weather, Arkadia could be next."

"Go," the Commander told us. "We will avenge this attack together."

"Clarke, we've got to go," Bellamy said to her.

I could already tell she wasn't going anywhere before she spoke. "They need an ambassador for the thirteenth clan."

"It isn't safe here," Bellamy protested.

"She'll be safe here under my protection," the Commander told us.

Clarke hugged her mother. Abby and Kane led the rest of our people out of the room. I stepped forward. "I can't do this alone," I told her.

She reached out and took my hands. "You aren't alone."

"Shauna-"

She cut me off. "Shauna would want you to be there for our people. Believe in yourself, and they will too."

I hugged her. "Be safe. Our people need your influence here."

"Always."

OoOoO

I was sitting down outside, when Octavia's shadow blocked my sun. "How are you holding up?" She asked.

"I'm fine," I told her. I held up my hand and made a motion for her to move. She rolled her eyes, but sat down next to me.

"Don't you need to be at work?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I'm a field agent and camp is on lockdown."

"You know what happened yesterday wasn't your fault, right?"

"I knew something was wrong, but I ignored it." I pulled grass out of the ground, and didn't look up.

"Bellamy thought we could trust Echo, no one had a reason to think we couldn't," she reminded me. "None of us caused this."

"I left Shauna behind, and now she's dead." I looked at her. "That's on me."

"Shauna was doing her job," Octavia said firmly. "And so were you."

Yelling caught our attention. I turned to see Jasper and Monty arguing. Octavia jumped up. Reluctantly, I followed behind. "What's going on?" Octavia asked.

"Jasper won't go to the memorial service," Monty said.

"It's a little late for a Mount Weather memorial, don't you think?" Jasper mumbled before turning away.

Sirens went off, a voice told all security details to report to their posts. I groaned. Octavia headed toward the opening gates. Monty grabbed my arm. "How can he do this to Shauna?"

I shook my head. "If he doesn't want to pay his respects to his friend, I can't make him. He isn't my problem anymore." Monty nodded and started to follow after him. I reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm so sorry about Shauna."

He looked at me for a moment. "Me too."

We went in opposite directions. I joined Octavia at the gate, where Nyko was leading in sick grounders. One of the other guards pushed a stumbling woman away from him. I grabbed her. "You don't have to like this, but this was Abby's decision. Respect your Chancellor."

"She won't be Chancellor for much longer," the guard said. I turned away, taking the woman into the Ark. He was right, after tomorrow's election Abby would no longer be Chancellor. But I knew that Kane would have made the same decision.

OoOoO

I met Bellamy in the hallway. "Where's your jacket?" I asked.

"I quit," he told me.

"This wasn't your fault." Before he could say anything, I laced my fingers through his and pulled him through the door. The memorial service was already filling up. We took seats near the back. I glanced around the room, but there weren't many faces I recognized. I saw Miller sitting next to Bryan and held up my hand in a small wave, he nodded back.

Pike walked up to the front of the room, and gave his opening address. He read down the list of the deceased. For each name, someone stood up and told a story about their loved one. "Who will speak for Shauna Bishop?" Pike asked finally. I glanced around, looking for Monty. I noticed Hannah doing the same.

There was an awkward pause. Finally I stood up and walked to the front of the room. I looked at everyone, trying to collect myself. Speaking in front of a crowd wasn't exactly my forte. I took a deep breath. "Shauna Bishop was one of the bravest people I ever met. She was probably the smartest too, but I never would've admitted that to her." Harper and Miller laughed quietly.

"Without her, we never would have escaped that mountain the first time around." I felt my eyes brimming with tears, and tried to smile and push them away. "She survived so much, only to have her life cut short anyway. They told me she died trying to save our people, she died a hero." I glanced at the table of mementos, wishing I had something to leave for her. "May we meet again."

The door opened, breaking the silence. A few guards walked in, followed by Lincoln. Everyone began whispering amongst themselves. Pike walked past me, to where Kane and Abby were sitting at the front. They were closer enough I could overhear.

"Grounders outside of camp, an army of them," Pike said.

"We know," Kane told him. "Indra radioed."

"You gave a grounder a radio?" Pike asked, raising his voice. The clamor grew louder.

"Are we under attack?" Someone shouted out.

"We're not under attack," Kane assured everyone. "The Commander sent a peace-keeping force to protect us from further attacks."

"Peace-keeping?" Pike repeated. "Even you can't be that naïve."

"This has been hard on us all," Abby said. "We are all grieving for those we have lost. But we cannot let anger drive our policy."

"Anger is our policy," Pike told her.

"No, it isn't," I said, stepping toward them. "Maybe it was up there, but not anymore. I'm sorry for what you've all endured since reaching the ground," I said, addressing Farm Station. "But Arkadia is not the Ark you remember."

Pike looked at me, and then back to Kane. "If they are here to protect us, as you say, then tell them to go home. We can protect ourselves." There was a general sound of agreement from the people.

"You!" A Farm Station guard shouted, pointing out Lincoln. "You don't belong here." He threw a large rock, hitting Lincoln in the head. Several other members of Farm Station lunged for Lincoln, but Ark guards held them back. Pike whistled, catching everyone's attention, but not before a few punches had been thrown at guards.

"Enough, we do not attack our own," Pike told his people. "The enemy is not in this camp, the enemy is out there."

I saw Lincoln go outside, and I hurried after him, pushing through the other mourners. He was leaning against the wall. He didn't look all that great. "Hey, Lincoln, you okay?" I asked.

He turned, just enough that I could see the blood. I walked over and turned his head. "You're bleeding pretty bad, you should go to medical." He didn't say anything, or make any move to follow my instructions. I sighed. "Things are getting out of hand, _Pike_ is getting out of hand." I shook my head. "He doesn't understand the way things work here. He hasn't seen that we can work together."

"He will only lead to destruction, for both our people."

I nodded. "After what happened in Mount Weather, everyone is on edge. People might listen to Pike, forget the peace that we've built here."

"We can't let that happen."

"We won't," I assured him. "But first, please let Abby look at your head. You're going to need stitches."

OoOoO

That evening I walked back to my room. After taking Lincoln to Abby, I was right he needed stitches, I'd stayed to help with the sick grounders. I'd been there for hours. I hadn't had dinner, but I needed a shower before I could go to the cantina.

When I opened the door, I found Bellamy loading a pack. "Going somewhere?" I asked.

"Quick reconnaissance mission, I'll be back in the morning."

"I thought camp was on lockdown? Why didn't Kane ask me to go?" He shrugged, turning away. I reached for his bag, he tried to stop me, but I pulled it back.

"You're a terrible packer, let me help." I pushed aside the jacket on top, and found several guns. "Reconnaissance, huh?"

"Maia, I have to go. Give me my bag." For a moment we stood there, almost playing tug of war with his backpack. "You don't have to worry about me, okay?"

I let the bag go. "Fine. Whatever." I watched him walk out, and as soon as I was sure he was gone, I headed to Abby's room.

The guard outside let me pass. Abby and Kane were both inside. "Good, you're both here."

"Maia, what's going on?" Abby asked.

"I think Pike is planning something," I said. "I just caught Bellamy with a backpack full of guns. He lied to me about where he was going."

"We can arrest Bellamy for stealing the guns," Kane said. "But without proof Pike had anything to do with it-"

I cut him off. "Let me worry about that. You just have guards waiting at the gate to back me up, okay?" Kane and Abby shared a look, and then nodded.

I headed immediately to the cantina and grabbed Harper. "I wasn't done eating," Harper protested.

"Dinner can wait," I told her. I led her down the hall, and found Lincoln in medical with Nyko. He glanced up when I came in. I nodded for him to follow me outside.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Yeah," I told him. "My boyfriend picked the wrong side."

OoOoO

Lincoln, Harper, and I didn't have to wait long at the gates. Bellamy and Pike led a group of Farm Station guards toward us. I stepped forward to meet them. "Step aside," Pike said.

I shook my head. "No, I'd rather not. Where are you going with those guns?"

"There's an army outside," Bellamy said "We need to hit them before they hit us."

"That army was sent to protect you," Lincoln told him.

"Bell, those people are innocent."

"Maybe of the attack on the mountain," he told me.

I shook my head. "Don't open old wounds. We've worked hard with Trikru to create this peace."

Pike looked at Lincoln. "You want to prove you're one of us, let us pass."

"I'm not moving," Lincoln told him.

"There is no us and them," I told Pike. "We are all grounders now."

"Step aside, grounder!" A man said, pointing his gun at Lincoln. It was the same man who'd thrown the rock. Lincoln grabbed the gun, and threw it to the ground. He held the man in a chokehold, with his knife in the other hand.

"I can't let you start a war," Lincoln said.

"We're already at war," Pike told him. The alarm went off, calling security to the main gate. Guards broke up the crowd, Kane leading them. "It's okay, Farm Station. Guns on the ground."

"We're good, Lincoln," Kane called. "Let him go." Lincoln let go of the man, who stumbled forward.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Abby asked Pike.

"What you didn't have the guts to," he told her.

She looked at him for a moment before turning back to the guards. "Take them to lock up, now!"

"This isn't over," Pike said, as he was pulled away. "We are surrounded by people who want us dead." He stopped in front of Kane. "Why don't you show us what you let the grounders do to you yesterday? The people deserve to know."

Kane pushed up his sleeve and held up his arm, so everyone could see the mark. "It is the mark of the Commander's coalition. We are the thirteenth clan. It means we're in this together."

"No, it's what farmers used to do to their cattle."

"Pike for Chancellor!" Someone shouted.

The man who through the rock stepped forward, "Sir, you should be on that ballot tomorrow."

"That's enough, take them away!" Abby told the guards.

"Pike!" Bellamy shouted. I turned to face him. He shouted again, others began to join in. As they were all led into the Ark, they all chanted his name.

I turned to Lincoln. "If he wins tomorrow, we're all doomed."

OoOoO

I sat with Miller, Harper, Raven, and Monty in the cantina. The election votes were being tallied. I had breakfast on my plate, but I'd barely touched it. "This is taking forever," Raven mumbled.

"What do we do if Pike wins?" Harper asked.

"I guess we prepare for war." I shook my head. "No matter what happens, we stick together, okay? If Pike wins we're going to need each other." I looked between each of them. Harper and Raven nodded.

"You saved our asses once already," Miller reminded me. "I trust you to do it again, Robin Hood."

"My mom is with Pike," Monty murmured. "But war isn't the answer. It's not what Shauna would've wanted."

I gave him a sad smile. "No, it isn't."

Kane stepped up to the front of the room. His face betrayed no emotion. "The votes have been counted. Charles Pike is your new Chancellor."

My friends looked at me. I took a deep breath. "Together."


	22. Chapter 22

I found Octavia outside with her horse. “You skipping work again?” She asked.

I shook my head. “I’m currently unemployed. Pike fired me this morning,” I told her. “I guess I should feel flattered. He felt so threatened by me it was his fourth official act as chancellor.”

I heard the sound of the gates squeaking open. Octavia and I stepped out of the stable to see Pike leading his soldiers back into camp. They were blood spattered, but not one of them looked injured. Octavia made a beeline for Bellamy, but I stayed put.

Everyone in the yard gathered around Pike. “Yesterday you elected me chancellor. Every act I have made since then has been to ensure the safety of this camp, and create a self-sustaining Arkadia. Today we sent a message to the grounders, this land is ours now!” At that, most of the crowd cheered. Pike led his men into the Ark, Bellamy glanced at me as he passed but I looked away.

I headed around to the back entrance, so I wouldn’t have to listen to brainwashed Arkers any longer than I had to.

OoOoO

There was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Kane. “Surprised you aren’t in the library,” he said.

“I did ask the librarian for my old job back. He said he’d get back to me after he checked my references. Something tells me a few of them won’t have great things to say about me,” I told him. Kane looked unfazed. “That was a joke. I start tomorrow.”

“Good, then I can borrow you for today.” He motioned for me to follow him. After we weaved through the hallways, we finally met up with Octavia.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Indra signaled, she wants to meet,” he told us. “I’d go myself, but Pike is watching everything I do.”

“So you want us to go?” Octavia asked.

He unwrapped Octavia’s sword, and handed it to her. “I need you to.”

“Okay, but how are we getting out? The gate is…” She trailed off as Kane pulled back a piece of the wall.

“Look familiar?” He asked me.

I smiled. “Taking me right down memory lane.” I walked over and ducked down, to look in.

“I trust you can find your way out.”

“Oh, yeah. I know these crawl spaces like the back of my hand.” I stepped over the ledge, and helped Octavia in after me.

“Get out there, figure out what happened, and report back,” Kane told us, leaning on the edge. “Got it?”

Octavia and I shared a look. She nodded. “We were born for this.”

OoOoO

After we got outside camp, we headed up toward the hill where Indra’s army had been camped. When we saw the carnage we both froze. I put my hand over my mouth. “All these people,” she whispered.

I pointed out the tent up at the top, where a few grounder soldiers stood guard. “Indra must be up there.”

“Maybe we should go around,” Octavia suggested. “You look a little pale.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. I just can’t believe that our people did this.”

“They aren’t my people.”

“Let’s get this over with.” I set off up the hill, with Octavia right behind me. I tried not to look at the bodies, but they were everywhere. It didn’t look like there’d even been a fight. Most of the grounders had no weapons in their hands.

The two guards moved to stop us when we reached the top. “ _Indra sent for us_ ,” Octavia told them in Trigedasleng. The guards glanced at each other and then nodded. Octavia went into the tent and I followed.

Clarke was knelt next to Indra. “Octavia, Maia? Where’s Kane?” She asked, standing up.

“He sent us,” Octavia told her. She walked over to Indra. “Thank god you’re okay.”

“How did this happen?” The Commander said behind me.

“Kane lost the election to Pike,” I told her. “Everything is changing.”

“Your people voted for this?” She asked us, looking between Octavia and me.

“No, I can’t believe that,” Clarke said.

“What do you know?” Octavia asked her. “You haven’t been here.”

“Listen to me, I need to talk to Bellamy,” Clarke told me.

“He’s with Pike,” I told her. “He won’t help us.”

“He saved Indra’s life. Maybe we can get through to him,” she said. “Pike trusts him, if we can bring Bellamy to our side…”

“You can’t just walk into camp, Clarke,” the Commander told her. “You’ve been living with their enemy. If I were them, I’d kill you on the spot.”

“Octavia and I can get her in,” I told them. “She’ll be safe.”

OoOoO

Clarke and I waited in the tack room. “So things here aren’t great,” she mumbled.

“That would be the understatement of the millennium,” I told her. “I thought that it was just a phase, that we could calm everyone down. But Pike is playing on everyone’s fears. His people haven’t experienced the peace that we had, they don’t understand.”

“You can’t stop trying.”

I looked at her for a moment. “You aren’t staying, are you?”

“Lexa’s right. Pike would be stupid to let me come back after all this time.” She shook her head. “Maybe I can change her mind, prevent a retaliation…I don’t know.”

“If anyone can do that, it’s you.”

“If there’s anyone here who can start a revolution, I’d put my money on you.”

I shrugged. “Half my fanbase is dead.”

“You don’t need fans, you need Merry Men.” She looked at me for a moment and then smiled.

“Oh my god, is Clarke Griffin actually making a joke?” I asked incredulously. “A Robin Hood joke, no less.”

She shrugged. “We both needed it.” I nodded.

“I’m not pretending!” I heard Octavia say right outside. “You’re my brother, I shouldn’t have to tell you that.” She opened the door and walked in, Bellamy followed. He stopped when he saw Clarke. “Now I’m done.” She walked out shutting the door behind her.

“We need to talk,” Clarke said to Bellamy.

“Oh, so now you’ve decided that.”

I looked between them. “Yeah, okay, I don’t want to be in the middle of this. So I’ll be back in a few.” I walked into the hall and shut the door behind me. I leaned against the door to listen in, but I only caught a few words here and there.

After a few moments I gave up and went looking for Octavia. Instead I found Raven in the cantina. “You look as awful as I feel,” I muttered.

“I got fired,” she told me.

I sat down next to her. “What a coincidence, so did I.”

“Abby decided that I was unfit for duty, so she told Sinclair I couldn’t work.”

“Oh, Raven, I’m sorry.” I put my arm around her, she leaned in. “Is there anything she can do? What about that surgery-“

“Now that Mount Weather is gone, I don’t even know if that’s an option.” She started crying. It was the first time we’d really talked about her leg in months. I was allowed to make lighthearted jabs or offer her a hand, but any serious conversation had always gotten shut down.

“When I told Abby you were getting worse, I didn’t think-“

She sat up quickly. “You talked to Abby?”

“I just wanted to see she had any stronger pain meds,” I told her defensively. “The pain has been getting worse, I’d be blind not to see that. You’re on my team, I just wanted to make sure you were at peak performance.”

“She fired me because of you,” she said angrily.

“Raven, come on! I was trying to help you.”

“Why does everyone always want to help me?” She asked. “I can take care of myself.”

OoOoO

I went back to check on Clarke and Bellamy and found them in the hallway. Clarke was in handcuffs and Octavia was standing over an unconscious guard. “Fifteen minutes and everything goes to shit,” I murmured. “Just another day in Arkadia.”

“You were supposed to be watching them,” Octavia said to me.

“I passed guards on the way here, they’re headed this way,” I told them.

“You two should go,” Bellamy told Octavia and me.

I shook my head. “Give us Clarke.”

“I can’t do that,” he said. Clarke reached down and grabbed the unconscious guard’s shock baton. She swung it at Bellamy, hitting him in the stomach. He dropped to the ground. Clarke went for the handcuff keys.

I could hear the guards talking, just down the hall. “Come on, we gotta get you out of here.” Clarke stood up, hands now free. I motioned for Clarke and Octavia to follow me.

We met up with Kane and Abby at the crawlspace. Kane slid the wall aside. Abby hugged her daughter. “We know what Pike did, is there any way we can prevent a retaliation?”

“We could give them Pike,” Octavia suggested.

“He has the guards and all the guns,” Kane told her. “We can’t touch him.”

“You two need to get out of here.” I pushed Clarke and Octavia toward the crawlspace.

“You’re not coming?” Octavia asked.

I shook my head. “I can do more from inside. Plus I’m not the one who just knocked out a guard, so they can’t lock me up for anything.” I shrugged. “At least not yet.”

“What about Lincoln?” Octavia asked Kane.

Kane handed her a radio. “Take this, the range isn’t great. Stay close and wait for me to contact you.”

I hugged her, and then Clarke. “Be careful out there.”

“Be careful in here,” Clarke replied. Kane motioned for them both to go, and then he slid the wall back into place.

“What happened to Lincoln?” I asked, once the coast was clear.

“Pike had all the grounders interned,” Kane told me.

“Some of them were really sick,” I said. “Is he just going to let them die?” Kane nodded. “Abby, if you can get me some meds, I can get it to them. I may have been kicked off the guard, but I’ve still got friends there.”

OoOoO

Abby had been able to give me some medicine to pass off to Miller. After meeting him in the cantina for dinner and the hand off, I headed back to my room.

I could see that the lights were on in my room under the door. I sighed and walked in. Bellamy was standing at the dresser. “What are you doing here?”

He looked up. “I live here.”

“Fine, I guess that I’ll just go stay with…” I ran through the list of friends who didn’t live with family or significant others, who also weren’t mad at me. “Octavia and Lincoln’s room is free, thanks to you.” I started gathering my things.

Bellamy grabbed my arm. “Maia, wait.”

I shook him off. “I can’t even look at you, Bell. I saw what you did, all those people slaughtered. How could you?”

“I was protecting my people, _our_ people.”

“So was that army!” I shouted. “We had peace, Bellamy. What happened at Mount Weather was terrible. I wish I could go back and change it. But this isn’t the way to redemption.”

“You would rather we sit here and do nothing to avenge our people?” He countered.

“Our people were avenged, the Ice Nation queen is dead. We are the thirteenth clan, our fight is the Commander’s fight.”

“We are not the thirteenth clan,” he spat.

“God, you sound like Pike.”

“Maybe that isn’t a bad thing.”

I stepped toward him. “How much more blood will stain your hands before the killing stops? How many innocent people will suffer before Pike is satisfied?”

“You should’ve left with Octavia and Clarke. Pike knows what you’re capable of, he won’t let you undermine him.” We stared at each other for a moment. Then he turned. “I’ll leave.” For a minute I watched him grab his things.

“No, you’re right,” I said. He stopped and turned. “I’ve already drawn enough attention to myself. Breaking up with you wouldn’t help matters. You can stay, but you’re sleeping on the couch.” I held my hand up before he could say anything. “You could’ve turned me in, but you haven’t. I don’t think you will. As weird as it is, I trust you not to make that mistake twice.” He opened his mouth and I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say, Bellamy. Goodnight.”


	23. Chapter 23

A few days passed, we received word that the Commander had returned to Polis. There would be no retaliation for Pike's attack. I scheduled my shifts at the library to make sure I was at work when Bellamy was off duty. I would have my breaks when he was off being Pike's little bitch. Raven wasn't speaking to me. I had to hear from Monty that she'd bought into whatever weird cult Jaha had returned to camp to start. But I had more pressing issues to deal with.

I passed a guard in the hallway, smiling at him as I went by. As soon as he was gone, I doubled back around to Kane's room. "You're late, the meeting already started," Miller told me.

"Sorry, I was at work." I sat down next to Miller. He and Kane had a radio sitting on the table. Through it I could hear Pike speaking. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Monty and Monroe joined the team. They're talking about farming."

"I sent Monty in," I told him. "What with his mom and everything, I thought it was best." Kane nodded.

"Here?" Monty asked. "There's a village there."

"We talked about that," Pike said.

"The people there are no threat," Bellamy reminded him.

"We _need_ that land," Pike told him. "Without new crops, Arkadia will be starving in less than a year."

"A grounder boy saw us near the camp, they'll be expecting us," Hannah said. "But they lost their fighters when we took out the army. We don't expect resistance."

"The Commander's message was clear, blood must not have blood," Bellamy said. "That doesn't mean we should just start-"

"Would you rather die fighting for your home, or starve to death?" Pike asked. "Are you willing to do what needs to be done to protect our people?"

There was a long pause. "We'll do what needs to be done," Bellamy said finally. For just a moment I thought there'd been a break through with Bellamy. I wanted more than anything for him to wake up and realize he was making a huge mistake. As if he'd read my mind, Miller put his hand on my back comfortingly.

"I've got to get to that village before they do," Octavia said. I hadn't even realized she was listening. "Can you bring me my horse?"

We looked at Kane. "I might be able to arrange something."

I stood up. "Great, let me know when we're heading out. Preferably before Bellamy's shift ends in an hour."

OoOoO

Miller and I had been walking for a while. Or more accurately, he'd been walking. "I'm still not sure why you get to ride the horse."

"I offered to let you ride with me," I reminded him.

"And I declined, because I feel like you'd push me off and laugh."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. That doesn't sound like me at all."

He shook his head. "Sure, okay."

"How's your boyfriend?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

He smiled. "He's good."

"I remember young love," I sighed. "Hold on to that feeling, it's all down hill from there."

He side-eyed me. "Okay, do you want to talk about Bellamy? Because you made it pretty clear you _didn't_ want to talk about Bellamy."

"I don't want to talk about Bellamy. Or think about Bellamy. Or see Bellamy sleeping on my couch when I wake up in the middle of the night."

"Get Abby to give you some sleep meds, that'll fix the last problem."

"It only makes the nightmares worse," I told him. "Am I the only person that has that reaction?" I groaned. "Bellamy has a track record for making stupid, impulsive decisions. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, I'm not actually all that surprised. But it still hurts. We were supposed to be a team. Not that my team is doing all that well right now, I'm losing Merry Men left and right."

"Oh no, you're not calling us the Merry Men. What happened to save the day dream team?"

I waved him off. "That name was far to long, and it doesn't have a catchy acronym."

"What happened to the rest of your..." he paused and made a face. "Team?"

"Enough feelings. Race you to the cave!" I gave the horse a kick to get her going.

"Maia, you're on a horse!" Miller yelled after me. "This isn't fair!"

OoOoO

I found Octavia in her cave. "Where's Miller?" She asked.

"Behind me somewhere." I shrugged. "I sort of left him."

She shook her head. "I don't know why he puts up with you."

I laughed. "Honestly, I don't either."

"Where's my horse?" She asked. I motioned behind me. She nodded and we started to head out. Miller came in, looking like he'd just run a marathon. He was breathing heavy.

"Wow, I'm surprised you made it here this quickly," I told him.

"I can't believe you actually left me."

I rolled my eyes. "This all could've been avoided if you'd just gotten on the horse with me."

"While this is entertaining, I've got to go," Octavia said.

She started to leave but Miller stopped her. "Do you really think a whole village is just going to leave because you tell them to?" He asked.

"If they know it's that or die, then maybe, yeah."

"And if they don't leave?" He asked. "We'll be leading our people into an ambush. Maybe if you talked to Bellamy-"

"My brother is on the wrong side," Octavia told him.

"If our people massacre a grounder village, there's nothing Clarke and the Commander can do to prevent a war," I told Miller. "No matter how confident Pike is, we will lose people in that war. If Octavia can get those people out, we're saving lives, ours and theirs." After a moment, Miller nodded. I looked at Octavia. "Be careful. They're not going to be thrilled to hear this, so soon after the last attack."

"We should get back to camp, before someone notices we're gone," Miller said. I nodded. We walked with Octavia out to her horse, and I hugged her.

"If anyone can get through to Bell, it's you," Octavia said. "I can't believe that he'd just throw away three years."

"He's done it before." I shrugged. "Come on, Miller. We've got a long walk ahead of us."

OoOoO

When we got back to camp, Pike's team was preparing to head out. We found them in the garage, loading up their rover. Miller tapped my shoulder, "I'm gonna go talk to Bryan."

"Okay." I didn't move. He just stared at me. "What? Go talk to your boyfriend."

"You should probably go talk to yours too. For appearance's sake."

I glanced at Bellamy. "Right." I sighed and walked over to Bellamy.

He glanced up. "What are you doing?"

"Telling you to you to be careful and not do anything stupid and-" I tilted my head. "Wait, no, you've already passed that point. Anyway, blah blah, nice things girlfriends are supposed to say, blah. Okay, I think that was convincing enough."

I turned to walk away. He reached out and grabbed my arm. "Maia, wait."

"What?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

He pulled me into a hug, and kissed the side of my head. "That's how you keep up appearances."

I stepped back and looked at him for a moment. "See you tonight." I walked over to Monty before I returned to my room. "How's it going?"

He smiled at Hannah, as she passed, and then turned back to me. "Not thrilled about this."

"You asked for this," I reminded him. "I didn't want you involved."

"I can't sit back at do nothing," he whispered. "Not after everything that's happened."

I nodded. "Be careful, okay? Octavia hasn't reported back, you might be walking into an ambush." He hugged me.

"Yo, Robin Hood!" Miller called. "I'm starving, let's swing by the cantina."

I groaned and turned around. "If you don't stop calling me that, I swear-"

"You coming or not?" He asked.

I headed his way. "Fine, _Nathan_."

"Hey, now."

"Now you see how it feels!" I said as we walked into the hallway. We both glanced around. "Okay, no one tried to arrest us. I'd say that was a success."

He nodded. "I wasn't kidding about starving. Come to the cantina with me, I don't want to sit alone."

I laughed. "Welcome to life as an outcast. It's great, mostly no one talks to you, but sometimes they try to kill you just to mix things up."

"See, I always found a way to balance thieving and a social life."

I patted him on the back. "Hate to break it to you, but that's why you got caught and I didn't."

"Except you-"

I put my hand over his mouth. "Extenuating circumstances."

OoOoO

I was sitting on my bed, reading my copy of The Great Gatsby, when the door opened. I didn't have to look up to know it was Bellamy. He stood in the doorway for a moment. "Monroe is dead." I closed my book and took deep breath. "Octavia warned them we were coming."

I sat down the book, and turned to face him, slowly. "I'm sorry Zoe is dead. But if you expect me to be sorry for trying to save a village of innocent people, I'm not." I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "Saving those people bought us more time. If they had died, the twelve clans would have had no choice but to attack."

"Let them come."

I stood up. "We may have guns, but they aren't unlimited. A few hundred sky people are no match for twelve armies."

"How can you side with the grounders after everything they've done to us?" He asked.

"Maybe they threw the first spear, but we've proved that we aren't so innocent either."

"You're right, and that's why Lexa never would have protected our people. It's why she left us at Mount Weather, forced us to kill all those people."

"You can't blame Lexa for that," I said. "Imagine if Dante had come to me and offered a trade, our people go free if the reapings continued. I would've said yes in a heartbeat. She did the best she could for her people. But now, we _are_ her people. Pike can reject that mark, but we are the thirteenth clan."

"Pike is doing what he thinks is best for our people."

"But he isn't! He's looking at today, at two months from now, not forever. I'm trying to do the best for our people in the long run. Peace and unity never comes through hate." I shook my head. "I know you're mad at Clarke for leaving. I was too. When she left me in Mount Weather I was so scared. I had all this responsibility that I never asked for, and I had no idea what I was doing. I killed people, let people die to protect me, watched my friends be ripped away from me. You aren't the only one who feels guilty. Clarke left us, but we were never alone. We were doing the best we could, together." I looked at the ground for a moment, afraid that if I didn't I would start to cry. "It could've been you that died today. I don't want you to get hurt."

We looked at each other for a long moment. "Pike knows Kane is giving Octavia information," he told me. "He's going to find out how. Don't let yourself get caught in the middle of this."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm the one the Ark could never catch," I reminded him. "Except, that one time you turned me in."

He reached toward my neck. I tried to stop his hand, but he caught the string that peeked out of my crew neck. He pulled the orange medallion up and looked at it for a second. "You're still wearing it."

"It's supposed to be good luck, I could sure use some of that." He let the stone fall back to my chest. I reached for his hands. "We can stop this before it goes too far. We're a team, remember? Please, Bell, I need you."

I leaned forward and kissed him. He slid his hand around to my lower back, holding me against him. I pulled back and gave him a small smile. He pressed his forehead to mine. Then he let go of me and stepped away. "I've got the night shift."

"Can't you...skip it?"

"Not today." He walked out. Leaving me standing in the middle of my room completely confused.

OoOoO

The following morning I met with Kane, Miller, and Harper. "Pike knows you've been feeding Octavia information," I told Kane. "But they need proof to arrest you."

"Then we have to be careful," he said "We need to stop meeting here. We'll change up our patterns."

"Bellamy knows you're working with us," Miller said to me. "How do we know he won't turn you in?"

"We don't," I said. "But, I don't think he will. If he were going to, he would've done it by now."

"Is there any way he's trying to get information out of you?" Kane asked.

I shook my head. "I haven't told him anything. Plus, the librarian agreed to be my alibi if Pike sends anyone to ask about me. As far as anyone knows, when I'm not in my room or the cantina, I'm at work."

Harper took off the headphones she was wearing. She'd spent the last few days listening to every single thing that went on in the Chancellor's room. "Guys, they're talking about the new security protocols." She unplugged the headphones so we could heard.

"Maybe changing critical passwords every twelve hours?" Monty was suggesting.

"Good, coordinate with your mom," Pike told him. "Then there's the matter of camp wide surveillance."

"You want us to spy on our people?" Monty asked.

"We can't do what's needed to protect our people, if every command I issue is leaked before it can be executed. We have to operate under the assumption that everyone could be working against us. Even our closest friends, or our girlfriends." I could almost see Pike looking at Bellamy. "Get whatever personnel you need to make that happen. Dismissed."

"From now on we act as if there are eyes on us at all times," Kane said. "Take different routes in and out of camp, be careful who we talk to."

"Or we could just shock lash Pike's fascist ass, and give him to the grounders," Harper said.

"That would be murder, not to mention treason," Kane said. "That's not who we are."

"Maybe that's who we need to be," Miller mumbled.

"They're right," I said. "If we keep tiptoeing around and playing nice, sooner or later one of us will end up dead."

"We only have two weeks before the camp is starving," Harper said. "That's with rationing."

"We're running out of time," I finished.

He shook his head. "We don't have to sink to their level to accomplish things."

"Maia, you heard Pike single you out," Harper said. "Are you sure Bellamy won't say anything?"

"He won't hand me over to Pike. But that doesn't mean he won't try and stop me himself. I could be a liability," I admitted.

Kane nodded. "We'll take that into consideration. We'll meet later, in the hallway by the crawlspace."

"You say _the_ crawlspace, like it's the only one," I said. "I mean I know this is just Alpha Station, but come on there are at least half a dozen. Why do you think I picked the library to work at on the Ark? It's almost always empty, no one checks the security cameras in there, and it connected to the old control center through the ceiling."

"I just assumed you worked that the library because you're just a huge nerd," Miller said. "I'm glad there was another reason."

I made a face at him. "Speaking of the library, I'm going to be late to work."

Kane shook his head. "I honestly didn't know about the crawlspaces, which I suppose explains why we never caught you."

"I haven't been in most of them recently, but they might be useful. I'll check them out and let you know."


	24. Chapter 24

After work, I headed to the hallway with the crawlspace Octavia and I had used. Miller and Harper were already there. Kane wasn’t far behind me. “Anyone followed?” He asked. We all shook our heads.

“Any word from Octavia?” I asked Harper.

She shrugged. “I’ve been scanning channels all day. Either she’s out of range or-“

“They already got her,” Miller finished.

“Or she ran her battery down, or she needed radio silence to run the blockade,” Kane countered.

“Octavia’s tough, I’m sure she’s okay,” I told them. I almost had myself fooled.

“I’ve been thinking,” Miller said. “Maia and I have spent three months patrolling out there. Not to mention the time we spent living at the dropship. We know this area better than any grounder. Send us out there-“

“Guys,” Harper interrupted. “Listen to this.”

“What’s plan B?” Bellamy was asking.

“We send out an attack rover to this area, do as much damage as we can with automatic weapons,” Pike explained.

“They’ll just fallback and go for reinforcements,” Hannah disagreed.

“I’m counting on that,” Pike told her. “The only way out is over this ridge, we bottleneck them in and pick them off. We have a dozen concussive antipersonnel devices. I’ve already got a weapons man rigging them with a remote trigger.” Miller and I shared a panicked look. “We rig the area before they bring their reinforcements, and then wait for them to fill up the killing box.”

“And detonate,” Bellamy finished. “It’ll buy us some time, but-”

“Time is what we need,” Pike said. “We move at dawn.”

“We need to disable that rover,” Kane told us. “It doesn’t matter how many grounders they kill, ten times that will descend on Arkadia.”

“How are we supposed to stop them?” Harper asked.

“With help,” he said. “Harper, continue monitoring communications, keep us in the loop. Miller, you’ve got to maintain your cover for now. I’ll fill you in after I talk to Sinclair.”

“What’ve you got for me?” I asked.

Kane shook his head. “You’re not helping.” I stared at him for a moment. “You said it yourself, you could be a liability. If Bellamy notices you doing something out of the ordinary, he’ll put a stop to it. It could jeopardize the entire mission.” I couldn’t argue with him.

As we parted ways, Kane motioned for me to wait up. “There’s another reason why I didn’t want you involved tomorrow. There’s a very high probability that this mission will go badly. If that happens, I may go down.”

“You should try to think more optimistically. This negativity can’t be good for you health, or this mission.”

“I’m being serious, Maia,” he said. “If I go down, you are the last line of defense. It’ll be up to you to save our people.”

“I was being serious too. Don’t doubt the power of wishful thinking and all that,” I said. Without thinking, I reached up and touched the stone on my necklace. “But you’re right, and I will be ready. If I’m going to do this, I’ve got to put my team back together. Harper and Miller are great, but they’re far from a militia.”

“Then that’s your assignment. Get your team.”

Easier said than done, I thought, as we parted ways. Time to win back some Merry Men.

OoOoO

I hadn’t heard from Monty since Monroe died, so I went looking for him first. I found him alone in the cantina. I jumped in the line behind him. “Hey, Monty, long time no talk,” I said.

“It’s only been a few days,” he mumbled. We slid down the line, taking our rations.

“Okay, but in best friend time that’s like two months,” I said, a little annoyed. He didn’t reply. I glanced down at my rations. “God, I’m ready for this blockade to end. I feel like we’re back on the Ark with these measly portion sizes.” Monty didn’t even crack a smile. “Okay, too soon to joke, apparently. Can we talk about your new security measures?” I asked as we walked away from the line.

“I can’t talk to you right now, Maia,” he said. “You should go before someone notices that we’re talking.”

I stared at him for a moment. “We’re friends, why shouldn’t we talk?”

“Because I don’t want to turn you in.”

“Monty…has Pike gotten to you?”

“He’s our Chancellor,” Monty reminded me. He glanced around. “You should really go. Please.”

I looked at him for a moment before walking out of the cantina with my food. I felt like the loser in those old teen movies that had to eat lunch in the bathroom because they had no friends.

On my way to my room, I passed the mechanical room. The door was opened, and inside I could see Raven and Jasper. I watched them for a second, Raven looked upset. Jasper turned and headed out the door, I caught his arm. “Wait, Jasper, what’s going on?”

He shook his head. “It’s about Finn. You’re her best friend, maybe you should talk to her.”

“We haven’t really been-“

“I really don’t think she cares about whatever you did to piss her off,” he said. “At least not anymore. I gotta go, Maia.” He shook his arm free, and headed down the hall. Slowly I walked in. Raven glanced up, but she didn’t say anything.

“Um, you hungry?” I offered lamely. I sat down my tray.

“I can’t remember him,” she told me.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Can’t remember who?”

“Finn!” She practically wailed. “Not even the good things not even my first kiss.”

I was at a loss for words. “Monty said you took that pill?”

She nodded. “It was amazing, at least at first. My leg doesn’t hurt. I was able to go back to work. But then Jasper mentioned Finn, and I…I can’t remember him.” She looked at me for a long moment. “I’ve been so busy giving her whatever she wants. I haven’t seen what’s going on right in front of me.” She was talking to fast for me to ask who ‘she’ was. “You needed me, and I abandoned you for a lie.”

“It’s not your fault,” I assured her. “I shouldn’t have gone behind your back with Abby. I was just so worried about you. I was too busy playing hero to see how much you needed me to be there for you. I’m so sorry. You never would’ve taken that pill if it weren’t for me.”

I was tearing up and so was she. “We weren’t supposed to fight anymore, remember?”

I nodded. “But maybe that’s inevitable, maybe it’s a good thing. If we don’t have problems to work out, we’d never get closer.” She sniffled. “But I’d rather not fight, I’d much rather be friends.”

She hugged me. “Me too.”

OoOoO

On the way back to my room, I overheard the news. Kane’s plan to stage a distraction in lockup and deliver Pike to the grounders hadn’t worked. Sinclair was in jail, Pike was still Chancellor, and Kane had been sentenced to death.

So that was it. I closed my door behind me and leaned against it. It was all on my shoulders now. I shook my head. It wasn’t just me. I wasn’t alone. I had Miller, and Harper, and Raven. Maybe we weren’t a lot, but we had to be enough.

I felt a push, and realized the door behind me was opening. I took a few steps forward and turned. I came face to face with Bellamy. I hadn’t seen him since I’d tried to get through to him. For a moment we just looked at each other. Then he kissed me. I stumbled back into the room. He kicked the door shut behind him.

“You were right.”

“I know, I usually am.” I tilted my head back as he kissed my neck. “You’ve known me ten years. You think you’d learn to trust me by now.”

“Pike is taking things too far,” he said, looking at me. “If we kill our own people…there’s no going back.”

“Good, I’m glad you said that. We still have time to fix this, before it’s too late. I’ve got some ideas, but I’m going to need your help.”

OoOoO

I took Bellamy and Monty with me when I went to meet Miller and Harper. The door opened just a smidge, putting Bellamy right in the sightline. “What do you want?” Miller asked from inside.

I pushed Bellamy out of the way, so Miller could see me. “Let us in.” Miller stepped back reluctantly. I walked into his room, with Monty and Bellamy behind me. Harper rolled her eyes when she saw them. “Listen, I know-“ Bellamy held up a hand to stop me from saying anything else. I looked at him questioningly. He pulled out a knife and Miller and Harper immediately reached for their guns.

I nodded for Bellamy to continue. He reached for Miller’s radio, and Miller stuck a hand out to stop him but I shook my head. Bellamy pried open the radio and removed a bug. He handed it to Monty who wrapped it up. “The bag blocks the signal,” he explained.

“Who put that there?” Miller asked.

I shook my head. “We can deal with that later. Right now we need to talk about our next move. Bellamy told me that Pike just sentenced Lincoln and Sinclair to death alongside Kane.”

“Maia said she has a plan,” Bellamy told them.

“We want to help,” Monty finished.

If looks could kill, Miller and Harper’s stare would have ended me right there. “I wouldn’t have brought them here if I didn’t think they were serious.” Neither of them looked convinced. I groaned. “Kane did give me a mission yesterday, he wanted me to put my team back together.” I motioned at Bellamy and Monty. “Kane trusted me to carry this forward, now I’m asking you to trust me.”

“We trust you, Maia,” Harper said. “It’s them we don’t trust.”

“You know what, forget it,” Bellamy said. “If my sister wants to save Lincoln’s life, you tell her to meet me at the dropship in an hour.” He turned around and headed toward the door.

“Bell, wait!” I called. The door closed behind him. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the others.

“After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t trust me?” Monty asked them.

Harper tilted her head. “Does your mom know you’re here, Monty?”

Monty sighed. “Let me know, Maia.” I nodded and watched him follow Bellamy out.

“What were you thinking?” Miller asked, as soon as the door was closed. “We can’t trust them.”

“I know that, Miller. Do you think I’m an idiot?” I asked. “I made a mistake letting Monty join his mom, I thought he was strong enough to resist.” I shook my head. “And Bellamy is a whole other story. But do you honestly believe they want Kane, or Lincoln, or Sinclair to die?” Miller and Harper shared a look. “Exactly. They want to help, and that’s damn good because we can’t do this on our own. Would we have survived in Mount Weather without Maya?”

“I didn’t trust her either,” Miller mumbled.

“Yeah, exactly. But she saved our asses,” I reminded him. “We need them on the inside.” I stared at them for a moment, waiting for them to argue. Finally they both nodded. “Harper, have you heard from Octavia?” I asked.

She nodded. “She made it through the blockade. You want me to call her?”

I shook my head. “Give me a radio, I’m going out there. If anyone knows how to handle Blake sibling drama, it’s me.”

“Okay, be careful out there,” Harper said, handing me a handheld radio.

“Always am.” She shook her head. “I’ll try to make this as quick as possible. Miller, convince Bryan to join us. I’m going to need his help to pull this off.”

“When are you going to tell us what _this_ is?” Miller asked.

“As soon as I have all my pieces in play.”

OoOoO

I waited until I was outside of camp to call Octavia. “How’s my favorite Blake?” I said into the radio.

“Alive, somehow,” she answered. “I thought Harper was on coms duty.”

“She is, but you and I need to meet up.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” She paused. “Besides the obvious.”

“I guess Harper told you about Kane?” She grunted her answer. “They’re going to execute Lincoln too.” There was a moment of silence. “Octavia?”

“Where do you want to meet?”

“Dropship in a half hour?”

“Yeah, okay. See you in a few.”

“By the way, I’m bringing your brother,” I added.

“What the hell-“

I saw Bellamy coming out of camp. “Speak of the devil. Going radio silent.”

“Maia!“

“See you at the dropship!” I flipped off the radio and stuffed it in my jacket pocket. I jogged to catch up with Bellamy. He looked surprised to see me. “This is my plan, I’m not letting you steal my thunder.”

He shook his head, but didn’t say anything. The two of us walked in silence for a while. It had been a few months since I’d visited the dropship. But something about it still felt like home, more than Arkadia ever would.

“Thank you,” Bellamy said after we’d been walking for a while.

“For what?”

“For forgiving me.”

“I haven’t,” I said suddenly. “I mean…I want your help, we need it. But that doesn’t erase everything that’s happened, all those grounders you killed. You haven’t earned anyone’s forgiveness yet. But, I’m giving you a chance to do that.”

He nodded. I could see he was hurt, but he understood. “What does that mean for us? After that kiss, I thought…”

“I don’t want you to think I was trying to play you or anything. I mean I _did_ want you to change sides. But I kissed you because I wanted to, not because I was trying to manipulate you. That’s not who I am.” I shrugged. “I’ve calmed down since I first tired to kick you out, but I need time to think. After this is all over, I think we should spend some time apart.”

“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before,” he said.

“That time didn’t end so well.” I sighed. “I want things to go back to normal.”

He shook his head. “I don’t even know what normal is anymore.”


	25. Chapter 25

We emerged from the trees into the clearing that surrounded the dropship. I smiled sadly remembering everything that had happened here. Octavia rode up on her horse, not looking particularly thrilled to be there. “You came,” Bellamy said surprised. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“I’m here for Maia,” she told him. She dismounted and walked toward us.

“Octavia, I know things haven’t exactly been great between us recently. But I promise you, I’m here to help,” Bellamy assured her. Octavia’s face softened and she walked toward him. To my surprise, she opened her arms to hug him. But before I knew what was happening, she was stabbing him in the neck.

Bellamy collapsed. “Octavia, what the hell?” I screeched.

“Relax, Maia. He’s unconscious not dead. He’ll be fine.”

“He wanted to help!” I protested.

She shrugged. “I don’t trust him. We don’t need him.” I looked down at Bellamy. “You’ve got two options: drag him back to camp and let him wake up there, or let me take him. I would advise the second. Carrying him back to Arkadia would seriously slow you down, you’re too small.”

I groaned. “Fine. I’ve got to go anyway. I’ve got a million things to set up if we’re going to save Lincoln.”

“Good choice,” she said. “I’ll meet you at Arkadia soon. Where do you need me?”

“Remember that crawlspace that used to lead between Mecha and Alpha?” She nodded. “It leads from the outside to a dormitory now. Meet me there.”

“Roger that, Robin Hood.” She smirked. I rolled my eyes. I glanced at Bellamy one last time before turning back the way we’d came.

OoOoO

My first stop in Arkadia was medical. Octavia had given me an idea. Abby was working, but she looked almost as if someone had just switched on autopilot. She didn’t even notice me come in. I cleared my throat. She jumped, knocking a tray of medical instruments into the floor. “Sorry. You okay?”

She started to nod but then stopped suddenly. She motioned for me to follow her into the back room. “I’m not okay, I can’t do this again.” I remembered that Clarke’s father had been floated on the Ark. I couldn’t imagine being in Abby’s shoes, losing two men you love in the same way.

“That’s why I’m here. We’re getting them out. I’ll need your help, I assume that’s a given?” She nodded. “Okay, I need a tranquilizer of some kind. Something that’ll be easy to inject and easy to hide.” She started moving immediately. She came back with a handful of syringes.

“Is this enough?”

I took them. “Oh yeah, plenty.” I handed her my radio. “We’ll be in touch.”

After leaving medical, I returned to Miller and Harper. They looked up as I entered the room. I sat the handful of syringes on the table. Harper picked one of them up and looked at them confused. “You two might as well take a few. I don’t think you’ll need them but Abby gave me enough sedative to put down a small army.” I looked at Miller. “Is Bryan in?” He nodded. “Good, you’ll need to get him one of these.”

“You ready to tell us this plan?” He asked.

I nodded. “Harper, you’re going to be our eyes. I want you on the radio, but not the channels we’ve been using. We’re going to let them know we’re coming.”

“That sounds dangerous,” she mumbled.

“If it doesn’t work, it will be,” I admitted. I grabbed Miller’s tablet and pulled up the floor plans of Alpha Station. “You know this dormitory, here?” I pointed it out. Harper nodded. “Pike’s guards will take the prisoners by it. When they’re at this intersection,” I pointed it out. “You radio and let us know. Then you check in with Octavia to make sure she’s ready. Alright?”

“You want them to hear that we’re about to make our move?” Harper clarified.

I nodded. “This is where Bryan comes in,” I said to Miller. “He’ll suggest holding the prisoners until the other guards secure the route. That dormitory is completely empty right now. It’s the perfect place for Pike to stash the prisoners while they scout. He’ll leave guards to watch the door, Bryan will volunteer. As soon as the coast is clear, he’ll use one of these bad boys to knock his fellow guards out.” I held up one of the tranqs. “Obviously he’ll have to act like he was knocked out too, so part of this hinges on his acting abilities.”

“He can do it,” Miller assured me. “Where are we going to take the prisoners while the hall is clear?”

“Nowhere, there’s a crawlspace underneath that dormitory,” I explained. “We’ll hide everyone in there until Pike clears the hall. He won’t be looking in that area, since he’ll assume we moved them already. I’d say we could take that crawlspace out of camp, but it’s one of the longest. It also goes right under the cantina. Sneaking that many people through it is just asking to be captured. We’ll take them out through Kane’s favorite crawlspace. Octavia and Kane both know it well enough to lead everyone out.”

Harper and Miller looked at each other. “Did I miss something?” I asked.

“No, I mean it sounds like you thought this all through,” Miller said. “When you said you had a plan, I kinda just thought you were improvising. I was expecting Mount Weather escape 2.0.”

“To be fair, if I’d known the Mount Weather layout as well as I know the Ark’s, I’d have gotten us out of there in an hour.”

“What if the guards don’t take the bait?” Harper asked. “If they keep going father down the route…”

“Then there’ll be more than three executions happening today,” I said grimly. “But this was my thing, I know how Ark guards think. They’ll take the bait.” Harper and Miller both nodded, but I could see that they were scared. I was too, but I would never admit it to them. “Okay, Miller, fill Bryan in. Then you should get some rest, we all should. We’ve got to bring our A game tomorrow.”

OoOoO

I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I ended up watching the hours go by on my clock. Bellamy never came back, I had no idea what Octavia was going to do with him. She’d promised me she’d be at the crawlspace in the morning. But, I didn’t think I’d have time to question her about her brother.

Eventually the time came for me to go. I went to the library first, I knew the guards schedules by this point and a few of them were passing as I went in the door. I waited inside for them to pass and then headed back out. I headed to the dormitory next. It took me longer than expected. I had to keep ducking into the shadows and waiting until my route was clear of anyone who might report me to Pike.

Finally I got into the room, it was still empty. I gave the floor a little kick until I found the loose piece of flooring. I pried it up with my fingernails and then jumped down. Octavia let out a squeak as she rolled out of my way. “Were you asleep?” I whispered.

“I got here a few hours ago,” she replied.

“Bellamy?”

“He’s fine, Maia.”

“The package is on the move,” Harper’s voice said loudly over Octavia’s radio. I motioned for her to turn down the volume. “OKS, are you in position?”

“Copy that, ready for intercept,” Octavia answered. I could just faintly make out the commotion in the hallway. I glanced at Octavia. No matter how good she had become at concealing her emotions, I knew her face too well. She was scared too. I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

When I heard the footsteps above us, I let out a tiny sigh of relief. Pike had taken the bait. I heard the door close, but neither of us moved. I heard Kane say something, Sinclair responded. I nodded at Octavia. We stood up together and gave the floor piece a push. I cringed as the metal made a scraping noise. I hoped Bryan had already knocked the other guard out. My fingers brushed the sedative I’d stuck in my pocket. I’d brought it just in case.

Kane, Sinclair, and Lincoln all looked surprised to see up pop out of the floor. “Come on,” I hissed. “Quick, before they come back.” Kane was the first to move, jumping down into the crawlspace next to me. “I told you there were more of these.” He patted me on the back as he moved farther along, making room for the other two.

Sinclair came down next, and then Lincoln. Octavia hugged him tightly. I cleared my throat. “Not to ruin the moment, but sit down so I can close this.” Lincoln smiled at me as he sat down. Octavia crouched down next to him and whispered something to him. I pulled the floor piece back over us and popped it back into place. “Now we wait.”

We sat in silence for what felt like ages, but in reality was probably only ten minutes. Finally the door opened, followed by the sound of footsteps above us. A loud crash made me jump and I bumped into Octavia. It was her turn to grab my hand reassuringly.

Finally after a long moment of silence I stood up, pushing the piece aside again. “All clear,” I told them.

I pulled myself out of the hole, as I climbed up the syringe in my pocket fell. “I’ve got it,” Lincoln called after me. I offered a hand to Octavia, pulling her up. The other three emerged after us.

“A little tight in there,” Kane grunted.

“Try doing it for sixteen years,” Octavia quipped. She and I set to work undoing the prisoners’ restraints. I heard movement in the hallway and turned to see Miller and Abby. Miller pulled Bryan to his feet.

“Do you copy?” Harper asked over the radio. I shot Octavia a panicked look. The plan had been to go radio silent after the initial distraction. “The exit is not clear. Stay where you are.”

“How many guards?” Octavia asked her.

“Too many!” Harper hissed. “Stay put.” We all looked at each other, no one was sure what to do.

“We can go out through this crawlspace,” I told them. “But we have to be completely silent, it goes under some pretty populated areas.”

“Calling all guards, the prisoners are headed to the main gate!” Monty shouted frantically over the radio. “I repeat, the prisoners are headed to the main gate!”

“Guess he was with us after all,” Miller mumbled. I shot him a look that said “I told you so.”

“We’ve got to move,” Abby said. I nodded and led the group down the hall. Harper was waiting in front of the larger crawlspace. She’d loaded it up with backpacks full of supplies to help the escapees once they reached the outside.

Harper slipped into the crawlspace and disappeared. “After you, Robin Hood,” Miller said to me. I shook my head. For a moment he looked confused, then he sighed. “You’re not coming.”

“I can’t leave yet. Monty helped us today. I can’t just leave him behind for Pike. Raven and Jasper are still here too.”

“Maybe I should stay too, you’re going to need help.”

“No, you need to go. Pike is already on to you, I can’t let you risk yourself.”

“He’s got his eye on you too,” he countered.

“I’ll lay low, Pike doesn’t have any proof.” Miller looked unconvinced. “I’m going to be okay, but you have to leave.”

Abby walked up next to me. “I’m staying behind too. You won’t be alone.”

“See, Miller? I’ll be fine.” After a pause he nodded. Then he hugged me, to my surprise. I hugged him back tightly. “You keep an eye on them out there, okay?”

“I got you, Robin Hood.”

I let go of him and pushed him toward the crawlspace. “Now get out of here.”

“See you on the other side.”

I reached for Bryan’s arm as he started to follow Miller. “Watch out for him. He’s got a habit of getting himself into trouble.” Bryan smiled and nodded. I let him go and watched him climb through the wall.

I was about to usher Octavia through, when Pike’s voice came over her radio. “I have a message for the traitors in this camp, there will be an execution today. Either turn yourselves in, or the other grounder prisoners will die in your place.”

Octavia immediately pushed Lincoln towards the crawlspace, but he stepped away. She grabbed his arm. “Lincoln, please. We’re almost out.”

“I know how you’re feeling,” Kane said. “But they’re searching the station, we need to go.”

Lincoln nodded. “You should.”

“Fine,” Octavia said. “But I’m going with you.”

He put his hand on her cheek. “I love you.” He kissed her. I turned away, but as I did I saw him reach into his pocket. He pulled out the tranquilizer I’d dropped earlier. He stabbed Octavia in the neck. She collapsed and he scooped her up.

“What are you doing?” Kane hissed.

“The same thing you’d do for your people,” Lincoln told him. “Just get her out of here.”

Lincoln stepped away, letting Kane put Octavia into the crawlspace. “Lincoln, wait. There has to be another way,” I reasoned. “I’ll get them out.”

“How?” He asked me.

I racked my brain for anything I could do. With Kane, Miller, Harper, and Octavia on their way out of camp, my team was lacking. “I don’t know. Just give me some time, I’ll figure something out.”

He shook his head. “This is the only way, Maia. I can’t let my people die for me.” He gave me a sad smile. “You did everything you could. You tried to keep the peace, be proud of that. Don’t ever let them change who you are.”

“You don’t deserve this.”

“Take care of Octavia.”

I nodded. I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes. I reached out and grabbed his forearm. “May we meet again.” I turned on my heels and started walking down the hall before the tears could fall.

I made it inside the library before I let myself cry. A hand on my shoulder startled me. I turned to see Mr. Carpenter, the librarian. He looked concerned. “I think it’s time you tell me what you’ve been doing out there, and how I can help.”


	26. Chapter 26

Mr. Carpenter gave me his handkerchief, then left to make tea while I tried to stop crying. When the tears finally stopped, I didn't feel sad or even angry. I just felt numb, like someone had removed everything in the center of my body and I was sort of just floating there. The Librarian returned with two mugs and handed me one. "Thanks," I mumbled.

He sat down across from me. "Now, Maia. Tell me everything."

"I don't even know where to start," I admitted. "There's so much I've never told you."

"Then start at the beginning," he suggested. So I did. I explained how I'd gotten confined, why I started stealing in the first place. I told him about Bellamy, and everything I'd been through since reaching the ground. Finally I finished with the past few weeks, how I'd tried to save everyone and I'd failed.

For a moment he just sipped his tea. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. I half expected him to fire me on the spot. I was surely more trouble than I was worth. "I knew you were Robin Hood," he said simply. "Before you were arrested."

"What? How?"

He gave me a small lopsided smile and glanced up at the ceiling. "You put the tile back upside down."

I looked up. "The tiles all look the same," I protested.

"That one has a chip on one corner, it was dropped during some maintenance work," he explained. I squinted to see the dent.

I stared at him. "You're telling me you knew I was sneaking through your ceiling for years. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I had a son who was confined, his name was Heller. He was a few years younger than you at the time. He was smart, too smart for his own good. Heller disagreed with the way the Council was run. So he talked about it to anyone who would listen. His mother and I tried to keep him quiet, but that only made him angrier. He was floated on his eighteenth birthday. When he was arrested, they removed me from the guard."

"I didn't know you used to be on the guard."

He nodded. "Ironically, a similar thing happened following your arrest. Once they realized you worked for me, they removed me from the Council."

"But you're the Ark historian, that job comes with a position on the Council. How could they just kick you off?"

"I suppose they decided they had no need for history in their future."

"That attitude really explains a lot of the decisions the Council made," I murmured. "I'm so sorry. That was all because of me."

"Don't be sorry, the things you did saved lives. I may have lost my spot on the Council, but I never lost the library." He smiled as he looked around the room. "Do you know why I chose you to be my apprentice?" I shook my head. "For years I avoided it. The Historian before me didn't choose his successor until me, and I was well into my forties by then. But, I read an essay you wrote for your Earth Skills class. It was beautiful, I almost felt like I was here."

"I got a B- on that essay," I recalled. "It wasn't just a paper, it was a story I used to tell Octavia. I'd tell her about what life could be like here. How she'd be free for the first time in her life." I remembered the look on Octavia's face when the door to the dropship opened. It had been the happiest day of her life. "Pike didn't like the artistic liberties I took. He just wanted an essay on surviving a day on Earth." I rolled my eyes.

"Never one for the big picture, that one." He shook his head. "I chose you for my successor because I saw a curiosity in you that can't be taught. You were never content to accept things the way they were. You looked for answers, and when you didn't find the ones you wanted, you changed them. You reminded me of Heller, that's why I never turned you in."

There was a knock on the door. The Librarian motioned for me to stay seated. He walked behind me and opened the door. "Ah, Chancellor, to what do I owe this visit?"

"We're just going door to door, Lawrence. We're asking if anyone has information on the escaped prisoners," Pike told him. "Is Miss Farrin here, perhaps?" I turned. Mr. Carpenter looked at me and I nodded. He opened the door and Pike came in, flanked by two guards.

"What can I help you with?" I asked as I stood up.

"Two of the prisoners, and several others are missing from camp. I know you were close with a few of them. You wouldn't happen to know where they've gone, would you?"

"If I knew that, don't you think I would've gone with them?" I asked. "I've been at work all day." I shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"Why don't you come with me to my office? Maybe you'll think of something."

"I believe Miss Farrin made it quite clear. She doesn't know anything," Mr. Carpenter said. "And she really should be getting back to work."

"With all due respect, sir," Pike addressed him. "Traitors in our camp have been aiding grounders. I'm sure you understand this is a matter of life or death for our people. I would just like Maia to answer a few questions about her friends."

"With all due respect," Mr. Carpenter countered. "I do not appreciate you bringing guns into my place of work. This library is a place of peace, and Maia is part of maintaining that peace. I'm sure you can interrogate her later, when she isn't working."

Pike looked at him for a moment. I thought he was going to arrest the Librarian right there, but instead he backed away. He looked at me. "We will discuss this."

When the door closed behind Pike and his guards, I let out a sigh of relief. "Perhaps you should've left camp with your friends."

"Not all my friends escaped, I couldn't leave anyone behind." I yawned. "I know I'm supposed to be working, but I barely got any sleep last night-"

"Go get some rest, you deserve it."

OoOoO

I was outside, it was pouring down rain. Camp was completely empty. I looked around confused. Then I saw them, Pike was leading Octavia out of the station. They were both restrained. "I'm coming!" I screamed. But I couldn't move. No matter how hard I tried to move my legs, they were stuck in place.

I was forced to watch as Pike's men pushed Octavia to the ground. "No, please! Take me instead!" No one even glanced in my direction. Pike held up his gun and shot her in the head.

I sat up in bed. I was shaking, and sweating, as if I'd just finished a really hard run. I tried to stand up, but found my legs barely supported my weight. It was only seven, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep after that. At least not without Bellamy to rub my back and remind me it was just a bad dream. But, it wasn't just a dream. Maybe it hadn't happened to Octavia, but Lincoln had died in probably the same way.

After a few minutes of staring at the wall, I finally got out of bed and got dressed. It was my day off so I couldn't go to the library. I could go to the cantina, but I didn't want to bump into Pike, and I didn't think I'd be able to keep down food anyway. So instead I headed to medical.

Abby was already working. She looked up when I came in. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked. I shook my head. "Come on, there's plenty to do here."

"Thanks," I mumbled. For a while I helped clean the tools, then I organized a few cabinets, anything I could to keep myself busy.

Abby joined me while I was sitting on the floor in the supply room. She pushed aside the piles of bandages and pill bottles that were surrounding me. "How're you feeling?"

"Terrible, thanks for asking."

"Maia, you can't hold yourself responsible for what happened to Lincoln."

"I can't help thinking that there's something I could've done. I could've had a bigger distraction. If I'd just kept Pike busy until everyone escaped..."

"You did the best you could given the circumstances," she told me. "You couldn't have predicted that Pike would threaten the other grounders."

"He almost sentenced them to death with Kane, Lincoln, and Sinclair. I should've expected him to go after them. If I'd had Bellamy and Monty, I might have been able to get the other grounders out too, but-"

"You can't change the past. The best you can do is move forward, do whatever you can now."

"Octavia lost the love of her life. A man who wanted nothing but peace was executed for no reason. I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Your journey isn't over yet," she said quietly. It was the same thing she'd said to me before I'd been confined. "I'm glad I saved you, Maia. I knew you would do great things if you were given the chance. You did, you saved so many kids in Mount Weather."

"But I couldn't save them all," I shook my head. "And I couldn't save Shauna."

"We can't save everyone. I know how hard it is to accept that. We just have to do the best we can, save as many lives as we can." She put her arm around me. "You're just a kid, you all are. You shouldn't have this much weight on your shoulders. I wish I could lift all these burdens, but I can't."

"Thank you," I told her. "For saving me. At the time, I didn't want to live. I didn't see any future for me. But I'm on Earth. I've experienced things I didn't think were possible. Sometimes it still doesn't seem real. I wish I could live in that moment, when that door opened and I ran into the woods. All those flowers." I smiled sadly as I recalled that first day. Things had been so much easier then.

"Hold onto that," Abby said. "No one can take your memories."

"Except apparently Jaha and his magic pill." We both stood up suddenly. It was as if we'd both just remembered we had more responsibilities than dealing with our own pain.

As we were about to return to the main room, she noticed my necklace. She reached out and grabbed the stone. "I'm glad I saved this too. I had a feeling you'd want it back eventually, and I couldn't help but hope that we'd meet again."

She let it go and I reached up to touch it. "It sort of sucks as a good luck charm. But, it reminds me of the person I used to be, and how far I've come."

The door to the supply room burst open. Jasper stood in the doorway wild-eyed. "Not to freak anyone out, but there's a hoard of Jaha's creepy zombies outside Raven's room. So, actually, it might be a good idea to freak out."

OoOoO

From outside Raven's room we could hear music blaring loudly. Raven was shouting something I couldn't quite make out over the noise. The three of us pushed through the crowd that had amassed. Not all of them were those who had taken the pill, some of them were just wondering what the noise was all about. "Alright, people, clear the hallway!" Abby called. "Now!"

Mostly everyone scattered, but not Jaha. He stood between Raven's door and us. "You too, Thelonious."

"This doesn't concern you, Abby," Jaha told her. "Raven's with us now."

"That doesn't sound creepy at all," Jasper said.

Jaha turned to him. "We took away her pain. We could help you too." Then he looked at me. "Both of you." I shuttered.

"I'm just here to check on my friend. You mind?" I stepped around Jaha, and he reached out to grab my arm.

"Let her go," Abby said. "Last chance before I call the guards and have them move you away from my patient's door." I yanked my arm away from Jaha and knocked on the door.

"You'll come around, Abby."

"Unlikely."

Raven opened the door. "Maia," she said relieved. She yanked me into her room, and as soon as Jasper and Abby had followed she slammed the door. Raven looked like she hadn't slept since the last time we talked.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked.

"I need your help to get this thing out of my head," she told us. "I think I know how to do it." She showed us to a board where she'd scribbled diagrams and notes. It looked like nonsense to me. If Shauna was here, I imagined she and Raven would be furiously debating already. They would've left the three of us standing here confused. Instead, Raven had to explain it to us. "The wristbands you sent on the original delinquents were designed to monitor vitals. Electrical pulses from the body were then sent back to the Ark."

"I know how they worked, I designed them," Abby reminded her.

"Then you know they have a transponder. If we reverse engineer them, we could use them to send an electrical pulse into my brain," Raven continued. "If I'm right it'll fry whatever ALIE put in there, without frying the tissue."

"If you're wrong..." Jasper trailed off.

"If I was wrong, ALIE wouldn't be staring at me like I just stole her favorite toy."

"Wait, you can see her?" I asked. Raven nodded. I realized her exhaustion wasn't just from lack of sleep. She'd been fighting off this AI for days inside her head. "Okay so, where do we find more wristbands? Everyone at camp either broke theirs or left them when they fell off, right?"

"I don't know," Raven admitted.

"I know where to find them," Abby said.

"No!" Raven snapped. "Don't tell me. Everything I hear, she hears. Just tell them."

Abby pulled Jasper and me aside, while Raven covered her ears. "Maia, you know the supply closet by the control room?" I nodded. "After we sent you kids down, we stored a few extras in there. They should be in a box, probably up on a higher shelf. We didn't think we'd need them again, but we didn't want to get rid of them."

I turned back to Raven. "We're going to save you, okay?" She nodded. Jasper and I started toward the door, but before we could Raven started screaming. She dropped to her knees and I sank down beside her. "What's happening to her?" I asked Abby. Raven clutched onto me, she was sobbing and screeching like she was being tortured.

Abby shook her head. "Her heart's racing, we've got to get her to medical." Jasper came over and lifted her up. She was squeezing my arms so hard he practically had to pry her fingers off one at a time.

"You're going to be okay, Raven. I promise."


	27. Chapter 27

Raven screamed the whole way to medical. As soon as we got there, Jasper put her in a bed. As Abby gave Jackson orders, I went to Raven's side. "Make it stop," she whimpered.

Abby put her hand on my shoulder. "Maia, get the wristbands." I nodded and squeezed Raven's hand one last time. I grabbed Jasper's arm and practically dragged him out of the room.

"I can't believe I ever wanted that pill," he muttered.

"I wish things could be that easy," I said. "Take a magic pill and suddenly you never have to hurt again. It would sure solve a lot of my problems."

"Too good to be true."

We passed the cantina on the way to the supply room. Monty was power walking down the hallway in the direction we'd just come. "Hold on, I'll catch up with you in a minute," I told Jasper. I turned around and followed Monty. He jumped when I grabbed his arm.

"Maia, you scared me."

"Are you okay? You look a little frazzled," I said.

"Pike knows," he said. "He knows I helped with the escape. My mom warned me, but I've got to go."

"Okay, good. Get out of here. Be careful, watch your back." He nodded. Quickly I hugged him. "And thank you, Monty. You saved us."

"Pike is going to come for you next," he told me. "You need to leave. Get Jasper and Raven and go. I know they're the only reason you stayed."

I nodded. "That's what I'm trying to do." I reached down and pulled a gun out from under my jacket. "Take this, you might need it."

"Pike let you carry a gun even after he kicked you off the guard?" He asked confused. I smirked. "Oh right, thief."

"Take it and get out of here." I pressed the gun into his hand. Monty gave me a sad smile and then turned. I watched him go, and then headed back to Jasper.

"Monty okay?" Jasper asked.

I nodded. "He will be. Are you two still not talking?" Jasper shook his head. "You've got to let him back in eventually."

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right, you should know that by now."

"I talked to Shauna before...I'm glad I got that chance. I shouldn't have pushed her away. She didn't deserve that. She just wanted to help me."

I pointed out the door on our right. "This is it. Will you-"

"Watch the door?" He asked. "I've got it, for real this time."

I smiled at him and then headed inside. I slid a crate over so I could reach the top shelves. It took a few tries to find the box. None of them were conveniently labeled "Delinquent Wristbands."

I finally found the box and pulled it down. Just as I was heading for the door, Jasper shouted. "Maia!" I turned to look back at the room for another escape route. My eyes landed on a vent and I started climbing the shelf like a ladder. It was hard to hold onto the box and climb at the same time. Hands gripped me around the waist and yanked me off the shelf. I hit the ground and the case of wristbands went flying.

Dazed, I watched a few of Jaha's men lead Jasper in. They cuffed him to one of the shelves. "I'll be taking these," Jaha said. I lunged for the case, but one of the guards yanked it out of my hands. Jaha opened it and pulled out the wristbands. He sat them on the table and smashed them with a hammer. Jasper and I both yelled.

One of the guards cuffed my left arm to a shelf without even bothering to pick me up off the ground. Then he followed Jaha and the other guards out of the room. Once the door closed behind them I started digging through the cases on the bottom shelf.

"What are you doing?" Jasper asked.

"Looking for something to pick this lock with." I dug through boxes until I found a wire that was sturdy enough. Jasper yanked on the bar he'd been cuffed to. I could tell it was weak. "I wanted to help you too. You know that, right?" I said, as I fiddled with the cuffs.

"I didn't want your help," he told me. "You sided with them."

"Because they saved our people. I would have done anything to save our friends' lives-"

"Maya was our friend!" He snapped, but he instantly looked like he regretted it.

"I know that, Jasper. But, they didn't have a choice. At least they didn't think they did. We can't save everyone. I wish we could. But you can't change the past, you just have to move forward and do the best you can now."

"You should've kicked me off your team, I almost got everyone killed."

"You're telling me. The rest of my team thought I was crazy." I shook my head. "But Monty just wanted to help you. We thought working patrols would keep your mind off things. Clearly it didn't."

"We can't all compartmentalize as well as you, Maia."

"This is a recent development. If you'll remember, my old coping mechanisms involved sleeping in the woods and screaming at the people I was upset with."

He laughed. "You've come a long way, Robin Hood."

I smiled. "I think you should work things out with Monty, even if it's hard. He's your best friend. We've all made tough decisions, and we've all lost people. If we aren't there for each other, who's going to be?"

Jasper yanked a final time on the bar and it popped out of place. He jumped up and went to inspect the remains of the wristbands. I twisted the wire again and this time the handcuff popped open.

"Come on, we've got to find Abby," I told him. "Hopefully she's got another idea." The two of us headed down the hall. When we passed the cantina, I saw it was packed.

"Odd time of day for a meal," Jasper muttered. We stepped into the room and saw that Jaha's army had more than tripled in size.

"This is over half the camp," I hissed. A few people moved to join the others, revealing who was distributing the chips. "Abby," Jasper and I whispered at the same time. He pulled me out of the room before we could be spotted.

The two of us ran to medical, looking for Raven. "Raven, you're not going to believe..." Jasper started as we walked in, but he trailed off as soon as we saw Raven. She was laying on one of the beds, her wrists bandaged. "What did they do to you?"

I walked over to her and she opened her eyes. "They didn't do anything. I'm sorry if I frightened you today."

"Are you okay?" I asked. "I saw Abby-"

"She's joined us now," Raven said. "Both of you can now too."

Before I could say anything else Jasper stabbed Raven in the neck with a sedative. I squeaked in surprise. For a moment I was frozen as Jasper scooped her up. I quickly started putting together a first aid kit. "What are you doing?"

"We might need medical supplies out there," I told him. "And Raven's bandages are going to need to be changed soon." He nodded as I quickly stuffed everything in a box. I started to head for the crawlspace, but I had a better idea. "Raven's rover, it's been parked outside since Kane tried to carry Pike out of camp. No one moved it back into the garage, we can get there without passing the cantina."

He nodded. "We gotta hurry, I have a feeling ALIE already knows something's up." The two of us took off. Jasper ran slow with Raven, but luckily we didn't pass any guards.

When we got to the rover, Jasper put Raven down in the back. I crawled in next to her. He ran around to the driver's seat and I leaned out to pull the back door closed. As I did, I noticed almost the entirety of Arkadia spilling out. "Jasper, go!"

"Hold on!" He called. I turned and saw him glance in the rear view mirror. "Oh, god. Going, I'm going." He floored it. "Hold on to something!" He screamed just before we ran straight into the closed gate.

Suddenly he was screeching to a stop. "Jasper, they're coming!"

"Is that Clarke?" He whispered. I whirled around and saw a blonde head running toward the passenger side.

"Jasper, what's going on?" Clarke asked.

"Get in!" I shouted from the back. "Now!"

"Maia? You don't understand. I have to see Lincoln." I felt like she'd just punched me in the stomach. Of course she didn't know Lincoln was dead, she'd been gone for ages.

"No, you don't understand!" Jasper said. "Lincoln is dead. If you don't get in, we're going to be too."

Just then the guards opened fire on us. Clarke leaped into the rover and shut the door. "Why are they shooting?" Jasper tried to start the rover, but it wouldn't work. He was getting frantic. Clarke turned to me instead. "What do you mean Lincoln's dead? I need him to take me to Luna, he's the only one who-"

"He's dead, Clarke!" I snapped. "Don't act like it's some inconvenience for you. Pike shot him in the head. That's more than just some roadblock on whatever quest you're on."

She looked down then, and noticed Raven. The back door flew open and a guard reached in. He grabbed Raven's feet. I grabbed Raven under the arms and refused to let go. "You can't have her!" I shrieked. Clarke stepped into the back and gave the guard a hard kick. He stumbled back, just as Jasper finally got the rover going. We sped away from Arkadia.

"Mom?" I heard Clarke whisper. She stumbled back, shutting the door. She sat down next to me. For a few minutes she was silent. The only noise was the sound of us flying through the woods. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She trailed off. "Tell me what happened?" I took a deep breath and nodded.

OoOoO

Jasper called Sinclair over the radio and told him we were coming. They told us we were safe to travel. Pike had been turned over, ending the blockade. I gave Clarke the abridged version of what she'd missed, between giving Jasper directions.

"Maia, can you climb up here and help me look?" Jasper asked. "I can barely see anything in the dark." I climbed into the front seat. Clarke gave me a look that said we'd talk more later.

"Pull over there, I think it's just through those trees," I told him. He stopped the rover and the three of us got out. I waited until Jasper had picked up Raven before following Clarke to the cave. Almost everyone was outside.

Miller and Harper walked up to me, looking worried. "What happened at camp?" Miller asked. "Is Raven okay?"

I shook my head. "We'll explain inside." Before I could head for the cave, Miller pulled me into a big hug. I took a deep breath. "Thanks, I needed that."

He patted me on the back. "Yeah, I could tell. You sort of look like shit."

"Yep, thanks, that's a real boost too."

"Gotta keep you humble, right?"

I smiled at him, then linked my arm through Harper's and headed toward the cave. We walked by Bellamy, and I noticed his face was all cut up. "What happened to you? Did Pike do that?" He just shook his head.

"It was Octavia," Harper told me quietly. "She was upset after Lincoln..." She trailed off. I immediately let go of Harper and turned around to find Octavia standing a few feet away.

"You two should stand watch, in case we were followed," I told Harper and Miller. They both nodded and went to their posts. I walked up to Octavia. "Please tell me Harper's mistaken."

She didn't even attempt to feign innocence. "This is all his fault."

"Even if it was, that doesn't give you the right to attack him. We don't hurt people, Octavia!"

"Like you haven't hurt anyone," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Only as a last resort, never out of spite!" I snapped, defensively. "I know you're upset. Believe me, I know. But he's your brother."

"Not anymore. I have no one."

"That isn't true, look around."

She shook her head. "I don't belong here. Not with them, not even with you."

"Maia, Octavia, come on!" Clarke called. "We need your help!"

I turned away from Octavia, without even checking to see if she was coming. Inside the cave, Raven was laid out on the ground. "What the hell happened to her?" Sinclair asked.

"I told you on the radio, Raven isn't Raven anymore," Jasper said. "Jaha's been chiping everyone."

"He's right, I've seen it with my own eyes," Clarke said.

"I don't need your help," Jasper snapped at her. I put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"What you saw was only the tip of the iceberg," I told her.

"Those chips change you, they make you forget who you are," Jasper continued. "Then you see someone, ALIE, only she's not really there it's all in your head."

"Raven forgot Finn," I explained. "Jasper made her remember him. We were trying to help her get ALIE out of her head, but ALIE is always one step ahead of us. She knows everything Raven knows."

"We can help her now," Sinclair said. "How were you supposed to help her?"

"She said something about our old wristbands?" Jasper said. "But Jaha destroyed all of them in Arkadia."

"We can go to the dropship," I suggested. "I know exactly where I left my wristband."

"Wait a second," Clarke said. "Does the chip look like this?" She pulled a small chip out of a box. It was larger than Jaha's chips, but it was marked with the infinity symbol.

"Not exactly."

Raven leaped up and made a break for the entrance to the cave. She punched Jasper when he tried to stop her. "Don't let her get away!" I called outside. We all ran after her, Harper had tackled her outside. Raven was still fighting to get away. Jasper stabbed her with the last of the sedative.

"Maia, did you carve your initials into your wristband?" Clarke asked.

"What?" I asked confused. "Yes."

"Your wristband isn't where you left it, but I know where it is."


	28. Chapter 28

We pulled up outside the trading post we'd stopped at while looking for Clarke. It seemed like it had been ages ago, but in reality it had only been a few weeks. So much had changed since then. Clarke's friend Niylah was the girl we'd met here last time. She was standing outside when we pulled up, sword in hand. "She doesn't look all that thrilled to see us," I mumbled.

"I'll talk to her," Clarke said. She and Bellamy climbed out the back, Octavia followed. While they talked to Niylah, I helped the others get Raven out of the rover.

When we walked back to the front of the rover, Bellamy was holding Niylah at gunpoint. I sighed. "Typical."

"My mom was here," Monty remembered, as we walked into the building. "If she was chipped, ALIE will know where we are."

"That's why we're putting her in the back," Clarke said. "Through that door." Clarke grabbed ropes and carried them into the other room. Sinclair sat Raven on the bed. "We need to tie her down."

Raven's eyes opened, she looked around frantically. Then she started screaming and trying to get away. Everyone held onto her as best they could, while also struggling with the ropes. "Let me go!" She screamed over and over. She sounded like a caged animal. I could barely stand to see her like this.

As soon as she was tied down, we left the room so we could talk without ALIE overhearing. We could still hear Raven's screams from the other room. "How do we get that thing out of her head?" Clarke asked.

"Working on it," Monty said.

"I'll go get the wristband."

"I can describe what I remember from Raven's board," I offered once she was gone. "But Raven had to dumb it down for us. Shauna would be able to tell you more but-" I realized suddenly why Shauna wasn't here. I'd almost forgotten. I shook my head. "Raven said something about reversing the electric pulse from these wristbands? She thought it would be able to destroy ALIE."

Sinclair nodded. "I can work with that, thank you."

"I'm gonna go check on her," I told them. I walked in the other room. Raven had gotten quiet. When I saw her I realized why, she was trying to untie the ropes with her teeth. They were just tight enough that she couldn't reach. But then she popped her shoulder out of place. I let out a squeal. Jasper looked up and ran over. Raven's pulling on the ropes had aggravated her wounds. Her wrists had started bleeding again.

"Clarke!" I called. Jasper and I tried to hold Raven down. Bellamy and Clarke ran in. "She reopened her wounds. There are bandages in my bag." Bellamy helped me hold Raven down. Clarke looked for the medical supplies I'd packed.

"She's moving too much," Clarke told us. We tried to hold her down, but Raven was strong. "She's going to bleed out!"

"ALIE!" Jasper shouted in Raven's face. "I know you can hear us, let her go!"

"I'll let her go when I get what I want," Raven said. Her voice had a creepy, doll-like quality to it. "The technology that Clarke carries belongs to me."

"Give it to her!" Jasper shouted at Clarke.

"If you let Raven die, you'll never get it," Clarke told her calmly. Raven struggled for a moment and then suddenly went limp. Clarke had us hold her down while she popped Raven's shoulder back into place. Then she started working on bandaging her cuts.

"She's never going to stop trying to get away," Bellamy said. "Someone has to stay with her."

"I'll take first watch," Clarke offered. "We'll take turns."

"You don't give the orders, Clarke!" Jasper snapped.

"Guess he doesn't forgive you for murdering his girlfriend," Raven said coldly.

"They're right," I told Jasper. "We need to keep an eye on her. Clarke can go first. Let's go get some rest, okay?" Jasper nodded before letting me lead him into the other room. He sat down and started fiddling with the handcuff that was still on his wrist. "Here, let me get that for you."

He shook his head. "No thanks, it gives me something to do." I nodded and watched him attempt to pick the lock. I wanted to help, but I understood his need for a distraction. "You okay with Clarke being back?" He asked after a moment.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

He glanced up at me and raised an eyebrow. "Since she's been gone, you've stepped up. You saved us in Mount Weather when she left. You picked up the pieces after Clarke left us _again_. Now she's just going to waltz back in here and start barking orders? No one asked her to come back. We've been just fine without her."

"It's no secret that Clarke and I have never seen eye to eye," I admitted. "But if it weren't for her, I never would have become the person I am today. She was my catalyst."

"We don't need her," he said.

"What we're facing is bigger than us, Jasper. We need all the help we can get."

OoOoO

After Raven got into Clarke's head, Jasper and Bellamy took over watch. Sinclair was busy working on the device, and Monty and Octavia had gone to the dropship for the last piece. Niylah was avoiding us all. That left Clarke and me.

She sat down with me. "What'd Raven say to make you snap?" I asked.

"It's not Raven, it's ALIE."

"You're right," I said. "But what'd she say?"

"She said I probably got Lexa killed."

"Lexa's dead?" I asked. Clarke nodded. "How would Raven even know that?"

She shrugged. "She didn't, she was just fishing. But she wasn't wrong. Lexa is dead, and it's my fault. I asked her to protect our people, and she did. If I hadn't, then she wouldn't have gotten shot."

"She was assassinated?" I asked.

Clarke shook her head. "Her friend was trying to kill me. Lexa just got caught in the crossfire."

I reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'm so sorry. I only met her briefly, but she seemed like a good person and a great leader. She watched out for our people, for you. You must have really meant something to her."

"She meant something to me too."

Jasper walked out of the back room looking frazzled. "Hey, you okay?" I called.

"It's your turn to watch Raven," he said. I gave Clarke a sympathetic look, and then headed into the back room. Bellamy was sitting in a chair on the far side of the room. I walked toward the empty seat.

"There she is," Raven said. "I was wondering when everyone's favorite angel would grace me with her presence." I rolled my eyes and sat in the empty seat next to Bellamy. "This is gonna be a fun shift." She smiled. "So how long is this breakup going to last? I mean, Maia, you'll forgive Bellamy for anything. You forgave him for almost getting you killed and for sleeping with your best friend. What's a little mass murder on top of all that? It's pathetic, Maia."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Don't let her get to you," Bellamy said.

"She's not," I told him honestly. I knew this wasn't Raven. I also knew where I stood with Bellamy. Nothing about our past bothered me. It was the future that was shaky.

When she realized she wasn't going to break me that way, she changed strategies. "Does torturing your boyfriend, oops, I mean _ex_ -boyfriend, make you feel powerful? Now that Clarke's back, you feel like you're loosing your hold on things, right? You pretend like you're so high and mighty. You'd _never_ hurt anyone, right? But you're just as guilty as the rest of us."

I didn't say anything, so she continued. "Don't get me wrong, compared to Bellamy you're a saint. Between Mount Weather, the culling on the Ark...wow he's sure racked up a body count. But are we really surprised? He killed his own mother." She shook her head. "You just had to let your little sister go to her first dance. You might as well have pushed Aurora out the airlock yourself."

"I'm the one who convinced him to let her go," I said. "I told him I'd take responsibility for her. I'm the reason Aurora is dead, not him."

Raven smirked. "Alright then, another point in your column. It may not be as long as his, but I bet it carries a bigger emotional toll." I looked away. "Does it bother you that you're in love with a psychopath? I mean the way he slaughtered those innocent grounders...You've forgiven him for a lot, but this one..." She laughed. "Your precious moral code is going to be seriously compromised when you go running back to him. How's Octavia ever going to look you in the eye again?"

Before she could say anything else, Niylah ran into the room, Clarke was right behind her. Bellamy stood up. "My father, you killed him!" She slapped him, but I'm sure she wanted to do much worse.

"Niylah, you can't be in here!" Clarke said, grabbing her arm.

"It's too late," I said. "ALIE knows we're here."

OoOoO

It wasn't long before Monty and Octavia got back. Monty walked right past me as if he didn't even see me. I wanted to ask Octavia about him, but I didn't think we were in a place to compare notes on our friends.

Monty and Sinclair finished the device and then we all gathered around Raven. She began struggling as soon as she saw what they had built. Monty untied her arm to put the wristband on it, and she flailed wildly. Monty and I tried to hold her arm still, but she was frantic.

Raven began beating her head against the back of the bed. "She's trying to kill herself!" Bellamy realized, he grabbed a pillow and stuck it behind her head to soften the blows. Octavia tried to hold her head against the bed. I grabbed her shoulders.

"Stop and I'll give you this," Clarke said holding up the other chip. Raven went still, everyone stared at Clarke confused. Except for Bellamy. He went straight for the wristband and locked it around Raven's wrist.

"Please don't," Raven begged. "The EMP will give me brain damage, you know it will!" Raven struggled against me as I held her shoulders. "Maia, you're my best friend, you can't let them do this! Please!" For a millisecond, I doubted the plan. But Raven, or ALIE, had proven herself to be a great actress today.

Sinclair flipped the switch. Nothing happened. "The battery isn't strong enough," he said.

"Then get one that is!" Clarke snapped.

"The rover!" Monty said suddenly. He and Bellamy ran outside. Raven resumed her struggling. They were only gone for a minute, and they came back with the rover battery. Sinclair wasted no time in hooking up the new battery and flipping the switch. Raven screamed as the EMP pulsed through her, then she went limp.

I put my fingers on her neck. "She has a pulse," I told everyone. I sat down on the edge of the bed. "Raven?" I tried. There was no response and I shook her lightly. Octavia knelt down and said her name a few times. I looked up at Clarke. "Maybe she wasn't lying."

Jasper suddenly grabbed a crowbar and went for the other chip. "Jasper, no!" Clarke shouted.

"ALIE did that to Raven, she's never gonna get this!" He shouted, raising the crowbar to strike.

"It's Lexa!" Clarke shrieked. "Part of her's still in there, I saw them cut it out of her head." Suddenly her face changed. "Both the chips were made by the same person, they both tap into human consciousness. They must work similarly right?" She looked back at Octavia and I, still perched next to Raven. "Help me get her on her side, get that med kit out of my bag." We flipped her, and Clarke opened her bag. She pulled out a scalpel and pushed Raven's hair aside. We all watched as she made a cut on Raven's neck. Blood oozed out, and Clarke held up a cloth to it. Then slowly a silver liquid poured from Raven's neck.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It must be whatever's left of the chip," Sinclair answered.

Raven coughed. I ran around to the other side of the bed and knelt down next to her. Octavia put her hand on my shoulder. We helped Raven up to a sitting position. I wrapped my arms around her. "Ow," she said. But she grabbed my arms and held onto me.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see someone in pain," Octavia joked. Raven laughed.

"I could've saved my mom," Monty said quietly. Jasper reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Monty shook him off. "Get the hell away from me!" He made a beeline for the door.

"Hannah was going to kill me," Octavia said quietly. "He shot her to save my life."

I looked toward the door. Raven squeezed my arm. "Hey, go talk to him. You've fawned over me enough for one day." I nodded and got up.

Outside I found Monty standing by the rover. "Hey," I called. He turned to look at me.

"I just want to be alone, Maia."

"Too bad." I walked over and sat down, leaning back against the rover. I patted the ground next to me. Reluctantly he sat, but he didn't lean back, he was too on edge.

"I killed my mom," he said quietly. "I could've saved her. We could've removed the chip."

"We didn't know that's how it worked," I reminded him.

"But I just- I just shot her, Maia!"

"You had no choice. She would've killed Octavia and she would've forced you to take the chip. You had to do something. You did the only thing you could."

"If they're right about that city, then at least I know my mom is somewhere nice," he said. I nodded. "But Shauna...She's just gone. I don't have anyone."

"You have me," I told him. "And Jasper, and Octavia, and the rest of the hundred. We're a family. We will always be a family." I reached over and squeezed his hand. "I miss Shauna too. If you ever want to talk about her, I'm here to listen."

The others came out of the trading post. "Let's load it up!" Sinclair called. Monty and I stood up. Jasper led Raven out and I walked over to them.

"How're you feeling?" I asked her.

"Like I got hit by a train," she said. "But I guess that's better than feeling nothing, right?" I smiled. "I'm sorry for all the shit I said. You and Bell make pretty good punching bags, though."

"I guess we beat ourselves up enough that hearing it from someone else is just another Tuesday." I shrugged.

"I got a rise out of you when I started in on him though."

"He's always taken more heat than he should've. He's done a lot of things, but letting him get bullied for something he didn't cause..."

"You will forgive him, that part was the truth."

"I'm pretty sure all you did today was tell the truth. It was just the stuff we didn't want to hear." She nodded. "I don't know how we'll ever be the same, not after so much has happened. But he's my family, you know?"

"Just promise me you won't make out with him, until you're confident he's _actually_ changed this time."

I turned her head and touched the bandage on her neck. "Okay, just making sure the chip is actually gone. Lay off me, mom." I helped her into the back of the rover.

Clarke walked up. "There's one thing I don't understand, why did ALIE want you to kill yourself?"

Raven sighed. "Because I know why she wants the other AI."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's the only thing that can stop her."

"Then let's stop her," Octavia said stepping towards us. "We survive together."


	29. Chapter 29

The rover was tightly packed once more. This time I sat on the floor, using Monty and Jasper’s knees as arm rests on either side. Raven was reading the journal that Clarke had brought with the Commander’s AI. Apparently a scientist, Becca, had created ALIE to help. But instead, ALIE had blown up the entire planet.

“And she used gene therapy that turned her blood black?” Clarke asked, turning around in the passenger seat. Raven nodded.

“How’d you know that?” Octavia asked.

“Nightblood,” Clarke told her. “At some point it became hereditary, and Luna has it. That’s why we need to find her.”

“Weapons hot, we’re almost home,” Bellamy called from the driver’s seat. He reached for the radio. “Miller, you copy? We’re five minutes out.” There was no answer.

I pushed myself forward and leaned between the front seats. I took the radio from Bellamy. “Not funny, Miller. If you’re not at the cave when we get there, you can walk back to Arkadia.” Still no reply. I glanced at Bellamy, biting my lip.

“I’m sure they’re fine, their radio probably just died,” he reassured me, quietly. I nodded, unconvinced.

We pulled up outside the cave, and I jumped out the back. “Miller! Harper!” I called, as I headed toward the cave. “Bryan?” There was no one in the cave. But sleeping bags, and backpacks were still strewn about.

“Anything?” Clarke asked, coming in behind me. I shook my head.

“Maybe their radio died, so they headed toward Arkadia to meet up with us,” Jasper suggested.

“Why would they leave all their stuff?” I asked. He shrugged. Clarke nodded back toward the rover. The three of us returned and told the group what we found. Bellamy drove us back to Arkadia, as we neared the camp he stopped to let everyone get out. We wanted to be ready to fight if we needed to.

The gates were still wide open, from where Jasper and I had torn through them on our way out. “It’s been two days, why haven’t they fixed the gate?” Clarke asked.

“Maybe because there’s no one here,” Jasper said, from the top of the rover.

“I swear, if Miller is playing some elaborate joke, I’m going to kill him,” I muttered.

“Maybe they got chipped.”

“If they got chipped, they would have been waiting for us at the cave,” Bellamy reasoned.

Bellamy grabbed my arm suddenly. I stopped and looked back confused. He nodded toward the ground. I looked down, on the ground just in front of me, was a bloodstain. Lincoln’s blood.

I looked at Octavia, she was staring at it. “Come on,” I said, guiding her toward the door. “Let’s get his notebook and get out of here.” She shook me off lightly.

Monty parked the rover in the garage. It was abandoned. Just like the cave, no supplies had been taken. Maybe my friends had been chipped. “I’m going to get the map,” Octavia said. Jasper went with her.

“I’ve got to grab something out of my room, I’ll be back in a minute,” I told the others.

“Hey, someone should go with you,” Clarke said. She glanced at Bellamy. “Just in case.”

I held up my gun. “I’m fine, my room’s just down the hall.”

She looked at me for a moment before nodding. “Stay on alert.”

I passed the library on the way to my room. Something made me stop, and go back to the door. I pushed on the door but it didn’t budge. I pushed harder, finally the door screeched open. I stepped inside and glanced around. I reached to flip on the lights, and noticed something flying toward me out of the corner of my eye. I screamed. So did Mr. Carpenter.

I hit the lights and backed against the wall. He was holding a metal bookshelf, threateningly. I held my hands up in surrender. “It’s me, it’s just me.”

“Are you one of them?” He asked, wild eyed.

“Are you?” I countered. “What’s your son’s name?”

“Heller,” he answered without hesitation. “How did you get your scar?”

I touched my stomach. “Stabbed during my arrest.” He nodded, finally putting down the shelf. “Have you seen Miller or Harper?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I barricaded myself in here when I saw what was happening. I haven’t left in days.”

“Come on, the rover’s a little cramped, but we can handle one more.” He gathered his things and followed me into the hallway. I grabbed my radio. “Found, the librarian. He’s not chipped.”

“Meet us at the armory,” Bellamy responded.

“Okay, I’ll-“ I was cut off by a sudden noise. I turned to see Mr. Carpenter on the ground. I dropped down next to him to see if he was okay. I glanced around, but didn’t see anyone.

“Maia, you okay?” Bellamy asked over the radio. Hands grabbed me. I was thrown back into the wall hard. Something covered my face. I inhaled before I realized what was happening. Things started to go fuzzy. The last thing I heard was Bellamy shouting my name over the radio.

OoOoO

When I woke up, I was in the airlock. Octavia stood above me, gagged. I realized I was too. I tried to move my hands, but they were handcuffed behind me. My arms were crossed, so I couldn’t even move them an inch. I looked around the room frantically, for some escape. All my friends were here. Miller, Harper, and Bryan, were across from me. I felt a tiny bit of relief knowing they hadn’t been chipped.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” I turned toward the voice. I recognized Emerson from Mount Weather. “I was afraid you were going to miss the fun.” He held a knife in one hand, and he twirled it around looking eager to use it. He knelt down in front of me. “Isn’t this fun, the whole Mount Weather gang back together?” He glanced around. “Well, except for Shauna. But I took care of her already.” I looked away quickly. He laughed as he stood up.

I heard footsteps down the hall, and turned to see Clarke. She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, you have me. Let my friends go.”

“Tell Bellamy to come out first,” Emerson said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Emerson held the knife to Octavia’s throat. Bellamy stepped around the corner, gun raised.

“Good, now put it down, and get in here,” Emerson said.

“I will as soon as you let them go,” Clarke told him.

He smirked. “I wasn’t talking to you.” Bellamy made no move toward the airlock. Emerson pressed the knife against Octavia’s skin, drawing blood. I tried in vain to free myself from the handcuffs.

“Okay, okay!” Bellamy shouted. He put down the gun and walked toward us. Emerson nodded for him to handcuff himself to the wall on the other side of Octavia. Emerson pulled out a gun and pointed it at Clarke. Slowly he walked out of the airlock, closing the door behind him. I looked at my friends frantically. We were completely helpless.

Emerson grabbed Clarke and pressed her to the window. “You killed my family, my friends, you really think I’d be content with just taking your life? No, you’re going to watch your people die first.” He hit the button, starting the venting process. Red lights flashed as the oxygen was drained from the room.

My friends struggled against their restraints. Mr. Carpenter closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Next to me, Octavia crumpled, no longer able to stand up. She looked at me. I could see how terrified she was, I wanted to hold her hand. But the gags in our mouth meant I couldn’t even speak.

My eyes drifted closed, I slouched against the wall. It almost felt like I didn’t have a body at all.

Then suddenly I could breathe again, I opened my eyes though they still felt heavy. The rest of my friends were waking up too. I leaned my head against the wall, taking a few moments just to breathe in the air.

OoOoO

Raven told us Sinclair had been killed trying to save her. I’d sat with her inside, while the other’s built the pyre. She didn’t cry until everyone else had gone outside. I hugged her until the tears stopped. “Okay, I’m ready,” she whispered. I led her outside.

Everyone stood around Octavia. It took my eyes a moment to focus in the dark. When they did, I realized she was knelt beside Lincoln’s body. Her whole body shook as she cried. She kissed his forehead and then let him go.

I walked toward her and put my hand on her shoulder, she stood up and flung herself into my arms. I held her as she sobbed violently. Over her shoulder, I locked eyes with Bellamy. I knew the pain in his eyes was partly guilt for Lincoln’s dead. But it was also because he couldn’t even comfort his sister.

Bellamy carried Lincoln’s body to the pyre, and put him next to Sinclair. I led Octavia over, and she joined Raven in lighting the pyre. “May we meet again,” I whispered.

“It’s time to go!” Octavia called as the flames rose. “I’ll get the map.” I thought about following her, but decided she probably needed a moment to herself.

I nodded at the others. “Let’s load up.”

OoOoO

I almost ran right into Raven and Monty as I took another load of supplies to the rover. “Where’s your stuff?” I asked them.

They shared a look. “We’re not going,” he told me.

I started to protest, but Raven cut me off. “I can barely walk, and my shoulder is killing me. But I remembered something. ALIE downloaded herself to the main frame here. I might be able to access her code, find a back door.”

I made a face. “I don’t know what that means, but sounds great. I’ll stay with you guys, you’ll need guards here.”

Miller patted me on the shoulder. “Bryan and I have this one taken care of. You should be out there with Bellamy and Clarke.”

I glanced at Harper. “You’ll stay to keep Miller in line?” I asked.

She cracked a smile. “Of course.”

“I’m going to stay too,” Mr. Carpenter said. “You don’t need a frail old man slowing you down.”

“You didn’t look all that frail when you were threatening me with a book shelf,” I noted. He laughed.

I sat my box down in the back of the rover. Then I turned back to hug each of my friends. Octavia pushed through us and got into the rover without saying anything to anyone. As I hugged Raven, I saw Jasper go to hug Monty. But Monty turned away.

I let go of Raven and hugged Monty. “He’s trying, okay?” Monty nodded. “Be careful.”

“Yeah, you too.”

I turned toward the rover. Jasper offered me a hand to pull me up. I slammed the door shut behind me. “Wow, all this space!” I stretched out across one of the bench seats. Jasper put his feet up, resting them on my stomach. Octavia just shook her head.

OoOoO

We drove through the night. Everyone was worn out which made for an interesting trip. “We’re using a map with no distances, there’s no telling when we’ll get to Luna,” Jasper mumbled. “We should stop and charge the battery in the sun.”

“What sun?” Clarke mumbled, looking out the window at the stormy sky. “We keep going till it dies.”

“What do you think Luna’s going to say when we show up trying to stick an AI in her head?” Jasper asked.

“I wouldn’t be thrilled,” I muttered.

“Lincoln said she helps people, she’ll help us too,” Octavia insisted.

Bellamy slammed the breaks. “We’ll have to back track, find a way with less trees.” Octavia looked outside, and then leaped out the back door.

“Or we’ll just go on foot apparently,” I said.

“Do you hear that?” She called back to us. “Water!” The five of us ran up the hill, there was a river at the top. We followed it to the open water. We all looked around, searching for signs of a village.

Octavia looked at the map again. “No, no, it can’t be.” She walked toward some stone figures on an outcrop.

“If Luna was here, she isn’t anymore,” I said quietly. No one else said anything for a long moment. We’d all been counting on finding Luna. “We should camp here for the night, we could all use the rest.” As if I’d broken a spell, everyone started moving. Bellamy and Clarke gathered wood and Octavia started the fire.

She leaned back as the fire started. “Nice,” I whispered. She looked up at me, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“We should talk about our next move,” Clarke said.

“We split up at first light and search the shore,” Octavia said.

“Octavia’s right,” Bellamy said. “Lincoln would have put this on the map if he didn’t think it was important.”

He reached for the notebook, but Octavia smacked it out of his hand. “Don’t touch that!” She didn’t even look at him. Bellamy knelt down beside her. “I can’t even look at you. Every time I do, I see Pike holding that gun to Lincoln’s head.”

“I didn’t kill Lincoln,” Bellamy said softly.

“You might as well have pulled the trigger.”

“I tried to help.” He looked at me, as if for backup. “But you didn’t let me. I wanted to fix things.” Octavia shook her head and went back to tending the fire. Bellamy looked at her for a moment before walking away.

Jasper threw a handful of pine needles into the fire. The flames turned green. Octavia’s eyes widened as she looked between the fire and the branch. She flipped through the notebook until she found what she was looking for. She held up a pressed piece of pine. She tossed it into the fire, another burst of green. “A signal fire! This is how we get Luna’s attention.” Octavia smiled, really smiled, for the first time in ages.

I looked down the shore where Bellamy was walking. “I’m gonna…” I trailed off. Clarke nodded. He stopped and sat on the ground, leaning back against a rock. He glanced up and saw me coming. “I think we figured out how to contact Luna.” I pointed back at the green fire. “So, things are looking up.” I looked back to him. “Is there room for me to sit?”

He slid over and I sat next to him. “She’ll forgive you eventually,” I murmured. “I know her.”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s going to take time, but she will.” I shook my head. “Things will never be the way they used to be.”

“The Ark was far from perfect, but at least we were all together. We had each other’s backs.”

“I still have your back, Bell.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. “The three of us are family, that’s something that can bend but never break. No matter what.” For a while we just sat like that, looking at the water. The waves crashing gently on the shore was so soothing. Bellamy didn’t ask about us, and I appreciated that. For now, the most I could give him was my friendship, and I was glad that I hadn’t lost him.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been there, but the sun was starting to set. I pushed myself to my feet. “You coming back?” I asked.

“I think I’m going to sit here for another minute.”

I walked back to the fire. The others were sitting, throwing pine needles in. I joined them. After a few minutes, Clarke stood up and walked toward Bellamy. “It’s peaceful out here,” I noted.

“I always wondered what the ocean was like,” Octavia said quietly. “It’s beautiful.”

“The stars are nice too.” I pointed up. “There’s Gemini.”

Octavia shook her head. “You were always such a star nerd. We lived in the stars, that’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t be rude.” She laughed.

“Where’s Gemini?” Jasper asked. I gave Octavia a look to say, see someone’s interested. I tilted his head and pointed out the stars. As I was looking up, I noticed movement on the other side of the rock circle. I thought it was just Bellamy and Clarke at first, but quickly realized it wasn’t. The three of us jumped to our feet.

Jasper put a hand on his gun. “No!” Octavia shouted. “It’s okay.”

Two men led Bellamy and Clarke to us. They were bound and gagged. One man turned to Octavia and asked her a question in Trigedasleng. I understood her answer. “ _I am Octavia of Skaikru, we seek safe passage.”_

The man shook his head in disgust. “Skaikru, bringers of death. Why should we grant you safe passage?”

“Lincoln,” Octavia answered simply. “He sent us.” For a moment no one said anything, then the man nodded for Clarke and Bellamy to be untied. He opened a pouch and handed each of us a vial.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Safe passage.”

Octavia and I glanced at each other, and then twisted open our vials. We knocked them back at the same time. “Wait!” Bellamy shouted.

“I trust Lincoln,” Octavia told him. Jasper shrugged and drank the cloudy liquid. I dropped to my knees, suddenly feeling the effects. Octavia hit the ground next to me. I barely even felt my head hit the ground before I blacked out.


	30. Chapter 30

I woke up face down with a killer headache. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and rolled over to see Bellamy looking down at me. He helped me to my feet. “Where are we?” I asked, glancing around. No one responded. Octavia beat on the metal walls. I peered through one of the rusted holes, it looked out over the sea.

The screech of the doors opening startled me. I turned, and was blinded by the sun light that shown straight in. A woman stepped into the container, looking us over. “Luna,” Octavia realized.

“Where’s Lincoln?” She asked.

Octavia looked down. “He’s dead.” Luna closed her eyes, taking a moment.

Clarke stepped forward, clutching the box with the AI in her hand. I reached out to stop her. I wasn’t sure if a direct approach was best here. “We came here because you are the last of your kind, the last nightblood.”

“So Lexa is dead too.”

“Titus entrusted me with the flame to give to you.” Clarke held up the box.

“Then he also should have told you, I left my conclave vowing never to kill again.”

We all glanced at each other. “You don’t have to kill,” Clarke told her. “Leading is your birthright.” She took the flame out of the box and showed it to her. Luna touched it. “It holds the spirits of the past Commanders. Will you take it and become the next Commander?”

Luna looked at it for a moment, then at Clarke. Then slowly she closed Clarke’s hand around the flame. “No.” She turned and left, Clarke ran after her. The rest of us followed, but stopped once we were outside and could see the “village.”

I glanced around. “This is crazy.”

OoOoO

We’d been deposited in a room full of Floukru. Eventually we were told the boats would return to take us back to shore at nightfall, we had a few hours to wait. The room was like the cantina back in Arkadia. Friends talked amongst themselves, others played music or told stories. It was peaceful, a welcome respite from the world outside.

It crossed my mind that we could stay. Then I remembered the rest of my people. Six months ago I wouldn’t have had any qualms with abandoning them to save myself. But now I had people who relied on me, believed in me. They came first.

“I could just stick on her neck like I did with Emerson,” Clarke said quietly. “The flame has a mind of it’s own.”

“No,” Jasper and I said sharply.

Clarke shot me an annoyed look. “We’re not forcing Luna to be the Commander if she doesn’t want to be,” I said. “That makes us no better than ALIE.”

“That makes us worse than ALIE,” Octavia corrected. “At least she gives people a choice.”

“Then what do you suggest?” She asked. “Because this is our last hope.”

I racked my brain for another solution, but came up blank. “We go back, and we fight,” Bellamy suggested.

“Fight who?” Clarke asked. “They’re our own people.” Bellamy pressed his lips together in a hard line. Finally he nodded. Octavia looked intently at the floor. “I’m going to find Luna.” Clarke stood up. I wanted to stop her, but I didn’t know how. Maybe she was right, this was our last hope.

OoOoO

It was night before Clarke returned. From her face I knew she’d failed. “I tried,” she said simply. “It’s time to go.”

Bellamy offered me a hand to pull me to my feet. “Jasper ran off with a girl,” I told them. “I’ll go find him and meet you outside.”

I weaved through the hallways of the oilrig looking for Jasper. He’d been gone for a while. There was no telling how far he’d gotten. Maybe it would be better to leave him here. I hadn’t seen him look this happy in months. It was selfish to pull him back to the mainland.

I followed a scream around a corner. Two of Luna’s men walked down the hall, each carrying someone thrown over their shoulder. One of them was Jasper. “ALIE,” I whispered. Once they were gone, I noticed they’d left Jasper’s friend behind with an arrow in her back. I ran toward her, but before I even dropped to my knees and checked her pulse, I knew she was gone. “Yu gonplei ste odon,” I whispered. I pushed myself back to my feet and made a dash for the shipping container.

The deck was empty, which meant I didn’t have to worry about getting attacked by one of ALIE’s people. However, it also probably meant most of Floukru was chipped or captured. I pressed my face against the rust holes in the shipping container. I could just make out the figures of my friends.

I struggled with the bar for a minute before I got the door open. The other three were standing on the other side, ready to attack. “It’s me, it’s me!” I shouted holding my hands up in surrender. “They took Jasper.”

“Have you seen Luna?” Clarke asked. I shook my head.

“Come on, I know where they went.”

I led everyone downstairs, but I didn’t need to. We could hear the screaming as soon as we stepped inside. “That’s Luna,” Octavia realized. Clarke ran toward the sound. Bellamy kicked open the door. Luna knelt down next to a man, her wails drowning out every other sound in the room.

I found Jasper and untied him. “You okay?” I asked him. He nodded, but he looked shaken.

“Is Shay…” He trailed off. I shook my head. “That’s what we do.” I pulled him into a hug. He hugged me back tightly. I was surprised. We’d been making progress, but he’d been reluctant about our friendship. Maybe he’d reached the turning point.

OoOoO

We gathered for the ceremony to send off the dead. “Anyone here could be chipped and we wouldn’t even know it,” Bellamy muttered.

“If someone is, they’ll make their move before we give Luna the flame,” Clarke said. We all glanced around the room suspiciously. Luna walked toward us, her face somber. She sat down a tray of glasses and filled each with wine.

“The ritual is about to start,” she explained.

Clarke stepped toward. “If we’re going to perform the ascension, we’ll need to go somewhere private.”

Jasper knocked back his wine quickly. I looped my arm through his. I felt him drop before I even registered what Luna was saying. “You think the only way to defeat an enemy who will stop at nothing, is to stop at nothing yourself. How is that any different than blood must have blood?”

As Jasper slumped, he pulled me down like a pile of lead bricks. But I was out before I even hit the ground.

OoOoO

I awoke, vision fuzzy and head pounding, on the beach. Clarke sat on the ground, staring at the flame. “Now what?” I asked.

No one said anything for a long time. Finally Bellamy turned away from the water. “Now we go home, regroup with the others, find another way-“

“There is no other way,” Clarke said firmly. “We have to find a nightblood.”

“What do you expect us to do, Clarke?” I asked. “Start walking into villages and demanding they give us their nightbloods?”

“If that’s what it takes!”

Octavia scoffed. “No, I won’t help you destroy another Grounder village. ALIE will never stop looking for us. She will find us wherever we go.”

“If we don’t stop her there won’t be anymore Grounder villages,” Clarke insisted. “Or any home for us to go back to.”

“All the more reason for us to go home and make sure our friends are safe,” I reasoned. “We should all stick together. There’s safety in numbers.”

Clarke and I stared at each other for a moment. She was the first to look away. “I’m going back to the rover.” She disappeared into the woods. I rolled my eyes.

“We should head that way,” Bellamy agreed. The four of us headed back that direction. No one was really in the mood for talking. I didn’t mind the silence. I had found the forests to be calming since my first day on Earth. In times like these, I needed calm.

I ended up getting quite a bit ahead of Jasper and the Blakes. I heard voices up ahead, one was Clarke and the other was a man I didn’t recognize. I slid down the hill, and came to a stop in front of them. They both looked at me.

The man had facial scars, the mark of an Azgeda warrior. He was also holding the flame. I reached for my gun, but remembered to late that I hadn’t grabbed it back on the beach. Bellamy had put the weapons sack in his backpack.

“Give her back the flame,” I said. I rolled my shoulders back in an attempt to look threatening, though this man was at least twice my size.

He looked amused. “Where’s your weapon?”

The sound of a branch breaking behind me caught my attention. I pointed over my shoulder. Right on cue, Bellamy shot over the Azgeda man’s head. I fought back a self-satisfied smirk. The man tossed the box back to Clarke, and held his hands up in surrender.

Bellamy slid down the hill and stopped next to me. He handed me my handgun. “Let’s go, Clarke.”

“Roan is coming with us,” she said simply.

All three of us looked at her surprised. “I am?” Roan asked.

She nodded as if it were obvious. “We all want the same thing, to put the flame in Ontari.” I blinked hard, wondering where I had possibly missed this new development.

“What if he’s chipped?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Clarke motioned to a body I hadn’t even noticed. “If he were chipped, would he have saved me?”

Bellamy shrugged. “One way to find out.” He shot Roan in the arm, and as if that reaction weren’t enough, he hit him over the head with the gun. We all looked down at the unconscious man.

I looked up at Bellamy. “Are you carrying him back to the rover? Because I’m definitely not.”

OoOoO

We regrouped with Octavia and Jasper at the rover. Clarke tended to Roan’s injured arm, and quickly explained how they met. He’d kidnapped her for Lexa. They’d had a tumultuous relationship since. Bellamy made sure Roan was bound and gagged. “This is really unnecessary,” I reprimanded, but Bellamy continued anyway.

Roan was finally beginning to come to. Bellamy ignored my frown and climbed into the driver’s seat. “How many times do we have to fuck up before we realize violence is never going to get us what we want?” I asked. “It didn’t help with Trikru, it didn’t help with Luna, and now…” I motioned to Roan.

I glanced at the others, but only Octavia met my eyes. “Why do I even bother?” I asked.

“Getting through to Bellamy is like talking to a brick wall,” she said. We both glanced around again. Everyone was silent. “This is going to be a long ride.”

It was sundown before we made it back to Arkadia. Everyone was waiting in the garage. I was the first to hop out and practically tackled Raven and Miller. “We were getting worried,” Raven said. “What took you so long?”

“ALIE found us,” I explained. “And Luna said no.” I glanced over my shoulder as Clarke led Roan toward the rest of the group.

“Who’s he?” Miller asked.

“Ice Nation,” Bryan recognized with disgust. I didn’t blame him; Farm Station had plenty of bad experiences with Azgeda.

“Not just any Ice Nation, their king,” I said. Clarke pushed him forward, without stopping to talk. Bellamy went with them. Monty and Harper stepped forward, from their proximity I had a feeling I’d missed a few things while we were away. “In case any of you noticed the bloody bandage, that was courtesy of Bellamy.”

Raven gave me a pointed look. “Well, I guess it’s a step up from murder.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, we have things to do.” I looked to Miller and Bryan. “Gather all the knockout gas and gas masks we have leftover from Mount Weather.” They nodded and got to work. “Raven, I know Jaha destroyed all the wristbands but-“

She shook her head. “All this time and you’re still underestimating me? You need a way to get the chip out of Ontari?” I nodded. “I’m on it.”

I hugged her again. “You’re amazing.”

“I know, you’d be lost without me.” Raven laughed. “Go gear up and make sure your boyfriend isn’t beating up our last chance to stop ALIE.”

I started to head down the hall, but Harper stopped me. “Hey, I found this.” She handed me a jacket. I held it up. “I figured with Pike gone and everything, you might want to come back to the guard.”

I smiled. “Whoever thought there would be a day when people like us would be on the guard. Or hell, that we’d even _want_ to be.”

“It really is a new world.”

I patted her on the shoulder. “Now let’s go save it.”


	31. Chapter 31

A change of clothes, a little food, and a cup of tea with Mr. Carpenter had done wonders for my mood. I was refreshed and ready to go to Polis. I leaned against the door to Roan’s cell. “Not going to hold me at gunpoint this time?” He asked.

“Sorry about your arm.”

He shrugged. “You’re not the one who shot me.”

“True.” I motioned for him to follow me. “Does it hurt?”

“I’ll live.”

The garage was chaotic as the rover was being loaded with gas bombs and weapons. I darted toward Raven’s side to escape any more small talk with the king. “You ready?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Are you?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s load up!” Bellamy called. Bryan pushed the last crate into the rover. I hugged everyone who was staying behind, and then joined Miller and Bryan in the rover. Octavia and Roan climbed in the back with us.

Octavia slid close to me and squeezed my knee. “We’re gonna kick some ass.” I smiled. Things might be weird between us these days, but we’d always have each other’s backs.

The drive to Polis was less than two hours. We parked the rover under tree cover and headed for the tunnels. Only Roan could walk through the front door without looking suspicious. “I need the flame,” he told Clarke. “This only works if Ontari comes out to get it.”

Clarke nodded reluctantly. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”

“Hold up,” Bellamy said, stepping between them. “That wasn’t the plan.”

“It is now,” Clarke said firmly.

“You’ll have to look like my prisoner,” Roan told her. “It’s the only way they’ll let you in.”

“Clarke, can I talk to you for a second?” Bellamy steered Clarke away from Roan.

Roan stepped back toward the rover. “Is he always like this?” He muttered.

“Unfortunately.” I took a step toward Bellamy and Clarke. “We don’t have time to argue, we need to get into position.” They both nodded and we split up. Clarke went with Roan, and the rest of us descended into the tunnels.

The path we followed was similar to the way we’d gone with Echo. The last time I’d been in Polis hundreds of people had died. I couldn’t help but feel a little dread at being back here again.

When we emerged from under the city, it was daylight. We set up in a basement, propping open the street level windows so we could get a good view. I chose a spot between Bellamy and Octavia. Bryan and Miller knelt down as they loaded up on gas canisters. “Will we ever be done fighting?” Bryan asked quietly.

“Hell yes,” Miller told him. “We’re gonna build a house on a lake, and you’re going to plant corn.”

“And raise chickens,” Bryan continued.

“Yeah, and grow old together.”

I smiled sadly. Bellamy glanced over at me. I looked up at him. “I don’t want to raise chickens, but the growing old part sounds nice.”

“When this is all over-“ He started.

“There they are,” Octavia interrupted. I bit my lip and turned back toward the window. We watched as Roan announced himself. People began to stand when they noticed the flame in Roan’s hand. We waited patiently for Ontari to reveal herself.

Instead, it was Jaha that stepped from the shadows. “What the hell,” I whispered.

“Hold,” Bellamy commanded. Unable to hear what was going on, we waited blind. Roan grabbed Clarke and held his knife to her neck. “Now!”

Before any of us could pull the trigger we were hit from behind. Arkadia guards grabbed us, pushed us to the ground, and bound our wrists. Our weapons were confiscated. They dragged us through the tunnels toward the elevator. We were surrounded and weaponless.

“She wants Bellamy,” one of them said suddenly. Two of the guards grabbed him. I recognized them as some of the guys who’d been assholes to Lincoln after Pike took charge.

Octavia and I both leaped up. “Where are you taking him?” She shouted. Another guard hit her in the stomach and she collapsed. I dropped down next to her.

“It’s okay,” Bellamy assured us. “It’ll be okay.”

The guards headed down the hall, I glanced around looking for some way to help. “If I were you, I’d hit the deck.” I turned toward the voice, but the guards blocked them from view.

“Everyone down!” Bellamy shouted. Octavia and I dropped. Gunshots rang out, and after a few seconds, the guards were dead. Murphy stepped into view. Behind him Indra and a handful of grounders emerged from the darkness. They cut us free and helped us to our feet.

I came face to face with Pike. “I see you’re back on the guard,” he said tersely.

“I see you’re still alive.” I stepped around him, toward the elevator.

Murphy picked up a gun off the ground and handed it to me. “Long time no see, Robin Hood.”

“Everyone said you took off with Jaha, I figured you joined the cult.”

“I don’t really play well with others. So the idea of sharing my consciousness with the rest of humanity didn’t sound that great.”

Bellamy joined me. “We need to head upstairs, Indra is getting the elevator.”

“Upstairs,” Murphy repeated. “Why do I feel like I’m going to regret saving your lives?”

“Clarke is in trouble.”

Murphy didn’t look bothered. “Clarke is always in trouble.”

“The rest of us are sort of in trouble too,” I continued. “And by sort of, I mean if we don’t stop ALIE she’s going to take over the world.”

He sighed. “Yeah, okay. What’s the plan?”

“We’ll go up in the elevator and get Clarke,” Bellamy explained as we walked toward the elevator. “Once we’re gone, everyone else will head up the ladder. Bryan is setting an explosive to make sure no one can follow us.”

“You realize that’s our only way down, right?” Murphy asked, frowning.

“A problem for another day,” I decided. I steered him toward the wheel. “Push.”

I stood next to Octavia while the elevator was brought down. When it hit the ground, Bellamy went straight for it. “You coming, O?” He asked. She glanced over her shoulder at Pike. “Maia?”

“We’ll stay here. If something happens, they’ll need us,” I told him. I looked over at Murphy. He got in the elevator without anyone needing to ask. This wasn’t the same kid who got kicked out of camp a few days after we landed. He’d changed since then. They pulled the elevator doors closed from the inside. The rest of us surrounded the wheel.

We’d gotten it about half way up when a bullet ricocheted off the wall. It hit Bryan in the side. Octavia and Indra went after the shooter and I dropped down to help Miller put pressure on the wound.

I glanced over my shoulder to see that Octavia was holding Kane down on the ground. “He won’t be alone, we need to hurry.”

Bryan motioned for us to pass him his bag. He pulled out another explosive. “Throw it down the hall, it’ll slow them down.” Miller took it and sprinted around the corner.

Octavia and I returned to the wheel. I jumped when the explosive went off, sealing off the tunnel at least momentarily. Miller joined us and we pushed as quickly as we could. Finally the wheel stopped.

I forced the door open and Octavia started climbing. I followed behind her, not bothering to wait for the others. It was going to be a long climb.

OoOoO

By the time we made it to the top, things were relatively under control. But blowing out the elevator hadn’t stopped ALIE’s people from coming. They were climbing up the outside of the tower.

Bryan wasn’t doing well. He’d lost a lot of blood and we’d put him on a couch. Our plan was also completely screwed. Clarke had to use Raven’s EMP to save Abby, and Ontari was effectively brain dead thanks to ALIE.

I paced the hall, checking the window every so often to see the climbers’ progress. At least we were on the top floor. Bellamy left the throne room and joined me in the hall. I reached for my pendant absent-mindedly, rubbing it for good luck. Bellamy looked over. I could see the pain in his eyes. I dropped the pendant back down against my skin, and reached for his hand instead.

Octavia shouted and Bellamy and I sprinted toward her. The climbers had breached the window. Pike was on his knees. I shot one of the grounders, and Bellamy got the others. “She cut me!” Pike said, pointing at Octavia. I dragged Octavia backward out of the room. “We have to stay and fight!”

“Too late, too many,” I told him. I reached forward to slam the doors shut, but before I could an archer fired. The arrow hit my chest and I dropped to my knees. I barely registered hands on my shoulders, pulling me into the hallway. The door slammed in front of me.

The pain was worse than when I’d gotten stabbed. So much worse. “Maia, stay with me, come on.” My eyes drifted close.

OoOoO

_I pushed through the door into my apartment. It was the middle of the night and I expected everyone to be asleep. The lights flipped on. Bellamy stood in the middle of the living room. “You’re awake.”_

_“Where have you been?”_

_I shrugged. “Out. I didn’t know I had a curfew.”_

_“Octavia was asking about you, she was worried.” He took a step toward me. His sister may have been worried, but I could tell from his face that he had been too._

_“Octavia’s fifteen, she knows what I do.”_

_“I wish you wouldn’t.”_

_I shook my head, and tried to step around him. He grabbed my arm. “I’m helping people, Bell. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”_

_“You were helping people when you were stealing food and machine parts,” he reminded me. “No one asked you to do this.”_

_“I finally figured out the Alpha Station computer system,” I said happily. “I transferred enough ration points to feed a few families for weeks. Random numbers, no way for anyone to see a trend. I’m no hacker, but I can break into a control room.”_

_Bellamy’s squeezed my shoulders. “Every time you go out there, I’m scared you won’t come back.”_

_I smiled softly. “I’m far too good for anyone to ever catch me.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Why do you care so much?”_

_“You really don’t get it,” he said exasperated. I furrowed my brow. “I like you, Maia, a lot. If anything happened to you I don’t know what I’d do.”_

_I stared at him wide eyed. “You like me? Like romantically?” He nodded, his cheeks turning the faintest shade of red. “I just assumed you thought I was, I don’t know, Octavia part two? Another little sister?”_

_“Oh god, no.” He frowned, disgust evident on his face._

_I laughed. “Okay, that’s great. Because I definitely don’t want to be your little sister.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. It took him a second to kiss me back, like he was still recovering from me thinking I was like his sister. I laughed again, just thinking about it._

_Bellamy laughed too. “This is not how I saw this playing out.”_

_I leaned back and smiled up at him. “I think it’s perfect.” I tilted my head. “But I’m not going to stop helping people, just because you’ve decided you want to kiss me.”_

_The door to my bedroom opened and Octavia appeared. “Maia, you’re home!” She looked between us realizing what was going on. She took a step back into the room. “Anyway, going back to bed. Goodnight.” She started to close the door and then stuck her head back out. “I just want to say that I definitely called this and I am behind it completely.”_

_“Go to bed, O,” Bellamy said, looking over his shoulder. She laughed and closed the door behind her. When she was gone, he turned back to me. “You don’t have to stop, I just wish you’d be more careful.”_

_“I am careful,” I protested. “But, I’ll use the vents more, if that helps. No one knows about them but us.”_

_He nodded. “That’s all I’m asking.” Bellamy pulled me close. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this happy. No matter what happened out there, I’d have Bellamy. I would always have him._


	32. Chapter 32

I woke up feeling like I’d been stabbed in the chest. It was only after a few moments that I remembered that wasn’t far from the truth. I cracked an eye open and groaned. Three people were by my side in a split second. “Don’t try to move,” Abby said. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’m alive?” I whispered.

Miller laughed. “Yeah, Robin Hood. It’s a miracle.”

Octavia put her hands on his shoulders and leaned down toward me. “Hey, Maia.” She stood up. “Miller you should get going, it won’t take Azgeda long to realize we’re leaving.”

“Azgeda?” I asked.

“For once, don’t worry about it,” Miller said. “Just focus on healing up, okay?” He started to hug me, but then realized there wasn’t a good way to go about that. Instead he leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Don’t tell anyone I got this sappy over you. I have a reputation.”

“Promise.” I started to laugh but it hurt too much. “What happened?” I asked once Miller was gone.

“Bellamy brought you to me after you got shot. You got lucky, your necklace…” she trailed off and smiled slightly. “That pendant saved your life. It slowed down the arrow, but the stone was shattered.” I reached for it, and only found the bandages on my chest. “If the stone shrapnel had gotten any closer to your heart, you would’ve died. But, I was able to remove most of it. One piece was embedded in your sternum pretty deep. It would have taken a lot more time to dig it out. It isn’t life threatening, so I left it.”

“You should make a full recovery,” Octavia assured me.

I frowned. “What happened after I was shot?”

Abby sighed and gave the floor to Octavia. “Clarke defeated ALIE, we won.”

I frowned harder. “Then why are we still in Polis? Why aren’t we home?”

“Because Azgeda took over,” Octavia continued. “There’s no Commander to make any decisions, it’s chaos.”

“But Roan, we were working with him,” I reminded her. “Is he alive?”

“Barely,” Abby explained. “He was shot, but he survived. They won’t let me near him. Their healers aren’t capable of treating a wound like this. If he dies, I don’t know what they’ll do to our people.”

“Echo’s calling the shots while the king is out,” Octavia added. “She wants us wiped out.”

“She’s the reason Shauna is dead,” I whispered. “How do we get to Roan?” I tried to sit up but Abby pressed me back down onto the couch. I realized I was a room over from the throne room. I hadn’t even made it out of the tower.

“ _You_ are going to stay here,” Abby told me. “We will take care of it.”

“I’ll find Bellamy,” Octavia said. “He’ll want to see her.”

OoOoO

I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while. Eventually Bellamy came. The sun was setting outside. “Hey,” he said quietly. He sat down on the ground next to me. I reached out and grabbed his hand. “Sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, Abby made me leave.”

“She said you were hovering.”

He gave me a lopsided smile. “I was worried about you.”

“Well, I’m going to be okay,” I assured him. “We saved the world.”

“For now,” he muttered.

I frowned. “What didn’t Abby tell me?”

“Abby didn’t know.” He looked toward the window for a long time, thinking. Finally he looked back at me. “When Clarke was in the City of Light, she found out why ALIE created it. She said the remaining nuclear power plants around the world are melting down.”

“It’ll be like the bombs all over again,” I realized.

He nodded. “Raven is looking into it, but it looks bad.” I looked at him for a long moment. “Six months,” he said finally, answering my unspoken question. “We have six months until the world ends.”

I reached out and put my hand on his cheek, I pulled him toward me. He hovered above me, our faces just inches apart. I pushed myself up on one elbow and kissed him. “I love you, Bell,” I whispered.

He pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed. It almost looked like he was praying. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I so sorry for everything. For all the time we lost.”

“I forgive you,” I told him. “I’ll always forgive you. ALIE was right about that at least.” We stayed there for a moment, his forehead pressed against mine. “We’ll figure something out, we always do.” I touched the bandages on my chest. “Anyway, that stone has saved my life twice, and now I’ll always have a piece of it with me. Not even a nuclear disaster can mess with magic, right?”

Bellamy smiled softly. “I guess the odds are pretty good.” He kissed me again quickly, and then stood up. “I have to go, we’re meeting with Echo at nightfall to negotiate our surrender.” I must have looked panicked, because he quickly amended, “We aren’t surrendering. We’re just using it as a distraction.”

“I was about to say, I’m gone for a few hours and you already have us throwing ourselves on the fire.” I shook my head with mock disapproval.

He squeezed my hand. “I love you, Maia. Heal up soon, we need you out there with us.”

OoOoO

For hours I didn’t get another visitor. When the doors finally opened, I was expecting Abby or Bellamy. Roan walked in wearing a crown made of bone and maybe some sort of teeth. “Nice crown, very Viking,” I commended. “I heard you were on your deathbed.”

“I heard you were on yours. This, however, looks like a very comfortable couch.”

I smirked. I motioned toward one of the chairs. “Please, have a seat, your majesty.” I paused. “Your highness? Mr. King? I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you, I’m from space, we don’t do royalty.”

He shook his head amused. “Roan is fine.”

“Where are my friends, Roan?”

“Most of them fled the city for Arkadia,” he said. “The ones who remained are in a cell.”

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. “Why am I still here?”

“Because I’m not cruel enough to push a injured girl out the window. And the elevator is still broken, thanks to your people.”

“You mean thanks to my people saving your ass?” I started to cross my arms, but pain shot across my chest. “What are you going to do with us?”

“My advisor wants me to execute Clarke and wipe out the rest of Skaikru.”

“Your advisor being Echo?” I asked. He nodded. “No offense but your advisor is a sociopath.”

“She was my mother’s top spy,” he explained. “I was not the one who chose her.”

“Sounds like you could use some new advisors.”

Roan stood up and walked toward the window. “If I allow Skaikru to live, what can your people offer?”

“Other than my stellar personality?” I asked sarcastically. “We have science, technology, things you can’t even imagine. We can help each other. Not to mention, Abby and Clarke saved your life. They can help more people if you let them.”

He nodded. “And you? What do you do?”

I shrugged. “I steal things, and occasional people listen to what I have to say. I might make a good spy if you’re looking for a replacement.” He sized me up. “Look, I’ll be the first to admit that my people have their issues. Back on the Ark I was severely anti-establishment. But things have changed since we reached the ground, it’s slow but it’s progress. I mean, we went from Trikru wanting us dead, to Trikru being our ally.”

“Your people slaughtered Trikru’s entire army,” he noted.

I sighed. “Okay, bad example. The point is we can help each other, you just have to let us.”

Roan looked out the window for a long moment. I thought he might be debating whether to throw me out it. “Alright.”

“Alright?” I repeated.

“I’m meeting with Clarke, if I like what she has to say, then you’ll stay here in Polis. The Thirteenth Clan needs an ambassador. Your people respect you, and unlike Clarke, my people don’t think you’re cursed. If Clarke and I reach an agreement, you will be the new face of Skaikru in the capital.”

I waited for the alternative, but he didn’t offer it. “And if you don’t reach an agreement?”

“Then I find someone who doesn’t mind throwing an injured girl out the window.” He said it casually, and I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. Roan didn’t say anything else, just walked out the door. Once again I was left alone to my own thoughts.

“No pressure, Clarke,” I murmured. “Just my life hanging in the balance. No big deal.”

OoOoO

I leaned against the window as Roan gave his speech to the crowd below. I was too high up to hear what he said. From the lack of war chants, I was pretty certain he and Clarke had come to an understanding. I stayed in the window until the crowd dispersed.

Eventually there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” I called. I turned to see Kane. “You weren’t who I was expecting.”

“Bellamy and Clarke are on their way,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you first. We have a vacant seat on the Council.” He paused. “A few actually. The point is, I’d like you to take one of them.”

“You want me to be a Council member?” I asked confused. “Why?”

“I tried to give the Historian back his seat when we landed, but he told me he was too old,” Kane explained. “Mr. Carpenter named you as his successor, and a seat on the Council comes with the job.”

“You’ve proven yourself to me, you have the makings of a great leader,” he continued. “You stepped up when Clarke left, and you saved our people in Mount Weather. I want to offer you my personal mentorship.”

“You’re offering to mentor me?” I asked skeptically. “You’re the _Chancellor_.”

“We haven’t held the new election yet, but…” He smiled. “It’s customary for a Chancellor to mentor his successor. Jaha chose Wells, prior to his confinement. I choose you.”

I hugged him tightly, ignoring the protests from my healing arrow wound. Kane laughed, caught off guard. I noticed the door open over his shoulder. Bellamy stuck his head in. I practically skipped over. “Wow, you’re already back on your feet. That’s a good sign.”

“I’ll let you two talk,” Kane said, patting me on the shoulder as he left.

Bellamy looked at him curiously. “I was watching the speech,” I told him. “I guess it went well.”

“Clarke told Roan about the nuclear meltdown, and she gave him the flame. We’re going to work together.”

I smiled. “That’s great, hopefully together we can figure this out.”

“We’re going back to Arkadia to regroup, then we’ll move on from there. We can drop you off, let you recover for a bit before you get back out in the field. At this rate you might be on a mission in a few weeks.”

“I’m not going back to Arkadia,” I told him. Bellamy frowned. “Roan named me Skaikru ambassador.”

“But Kane and Abby are staying, Kane has the collation brand.”

I shrugged. “Roan doesn’t know Kane, he knows me,” I reasoned. “Anyway, Kane pretty much named me his successor, so it’s probably best I stick around.”

“Successor for what?” He asked. “Chancellor?” I nodded. He grabbed my arms. “That’s amazing, Maia!”

I laughed. “I know. I was surprised too.”

I watched his face change, his smile fading. “What about us?”

“I refuse to believe that we only have six months left,” I told him. I put my hand on his cheek. “I love you, and one day we will get to be together. But today, I have to put our people first.” I slid my arms around his neck and kissed him. He held me close. “If Kane and Roan hit it off, I’ll tell them I’m leaving. But I have to take some downtime anyway, right? Might as well do that here.”

“What about the team?” He asked. “Monty, Jasper, Harper, and Miller are _your_ team. They’ve been your team for months.”

“They’ll learn how to be Clarke’s team again,” I said, with a shrug.

“They won’t like it.”

“Neither do I, I’m a little bit possessive,” I admitted. “But let’s face it, even if I were home, Clarke would still be the one calling the shots.”

“I’ll miss you.”

I smiled sadly. “I’ll miss you too.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Now go save the world so we have plenty of time to get tired of each other later.”


	33. Chapter 33

With each passing day, my strength returned. Abby would check in from time to time, but mostly I was alone. Octavia was too busy spying on the other clans in the city to stay with me. Meanwhile, Kane didn’t want me to exhaust myself by doing too much work.

I was sitting in the windowsill overlooking the bustling city below. I knew I should be afraid of the fall, but after years looking down from space this just felt like home. There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I called. I was surprised to see Roan walk through the door. I started to stand, but he motioned for me to stay seated.

“How are you feeling?” He asked. Roan walked across the room, stopping in front of the window to my right.

I shrugged. “Better, but still not great. How about you?” He grunted in agreement. “I’m glad I got shot with an arrow and not a bullet, pretty sure my necklace wouldn’t have saved me from that one. You got lucky. I guess your armor is pretty thick.”

He was quiet for a moment as he looked outside. “Nice view,” he said finally.

“Now that the lift is repaired, I can move to a room downstairs,” I offered. “If you want the room.” He shook his head. “This was the Commander’s room,” I reminded him.

“And the Commander can have it back when the next one ascends,” he finished. “For now, stay. I’m no Commander, and I prefer the Azgeda rooms downstairs.” Roan glanced around at the décor distastefully. “Lexa had her own taste and Ontari didn’t have time to change much.”

I glanced around the room. “I like it. It’s a hell of a lot more cozy than my room in Arkadia.”

“Have you and Kane spoken?” He asked.

“He’s worried about Trishanakru,” I said, twisting a piece of hair around my fingers. “What does that mean again?”

“Glowing forest,” he supplied.

I nodded. “Anyway, there’s been talk that they’re planning something. Octavia’s been spying. Which sucks, by the way. I’m stuck up here all alone.” Roan didn’t look particularly sympathetic. I frowned. “Azgeda makes up the largest single faction in the city. But, if the other clans unite against you, they _will_ overthrow you. Fortunately for you, we aren’t going to let that happen.”

“Our people have a history of not getting along.”

“But for now we’re allies. We both want to save the world. If our people still want to go to war after that, so be it. Until then, you promised to protect our people. I won’t let anyone overthrow you. At least not yet.”

“I’m open to ideas.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Echo says otherwise.”

“Echo is not the king.”

I crossed my arms as I thought. “Use what’s dominant in a culture to change it quickly.” Roan gave me a blank look. “I saw that in an art book once. I don’t know what it was intended to mean, but I feel like it makes sense. Maybe we can distract people. We keep them busy and interested in things they already like. They’ll be less likely to ask questions, more receptive to change.”

“How do you suppose we do that?”

I shrugged. “Soulou gonplei? Except, maybe not to the death, that could be counterproductive. But everyone likes a good fight, especially grounders.” Roan frowned. I sighed. “I don’t know, you know them better than I do. My people are easy. Give them chocolate cake and they wouldn’t notice someone being murdered in cold blood.” I shuddered at the thought; it was too close to what actually happened in Mount Weather.

“I’ll pass it on.”

“This is a little new for me,” I admitted. “Usually I’m the one fighting _against_ the guy in charge, not helping him.”

“I’m glad you’re on my side, I wouldn’t want to be your enemy.” I smirked as I leaned against the windowsill. “I know you want to be out there. You aren’t my prisoner, but until I know you can handle yourself, you’re staying here. We’ll start training tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to train me,” I protested. “I have a gun, I know how to use it.”

He made a face. “If you need to use a gun out there, fine. But in here you train to get your strength back.”

“Why do you care?”

“Like you said, we’re allies. You bridge the gap between our people; I won’t let you get yourself killed. At least not yet.” He smirked. “Besides, I need to gain my own strength back. At least with you, the playing field is level.”

I scoffed. “You only want to train me because you know you can kick my ass? That’s really not fair.”

Roan backed away, looking amused. “We start training tomorrow morning, meet me in the throne room.”

OoOoO

Roan swung his sword. I ducked, narrowly escaping. The blade grazed the top of my head, and I reached up to make sure I didn’t have a bald spot. While I was still low, I kicked his leg, causing him to lose his balance for a moment.

I darted away to catch my breath. I took in a deep gulp of air, the twinge in my chest reminding me of my wound. Before either of us could attack again, the door opened. “There you are,” Echo said, almost as if she were scolding a child. “I see you’ve already made yourself at home in the throne room.”

“It looks good.” Roan tossed his sword down. “Do you have something for me?”

Echo looked at me pointedly. I rolled my eyes. “I’ll go.” I holstered my sword and started for the door, when it opened again.

“There you are,” Kane said, _definitely_ as if he were scolding a child. Roan and I shared a look. “Abby said you weren’t in your room.”

“Maia was just leaving,” Echo told him.

“Actually, we have something for Roan,” Kane told her. Roan waved Echo away and she left with a frown. “We were right to worry about Trishanakru. Rafael plans to challenge you for control.”

Roan raised an eyebrow. “Bold move for a new ambassador. Let him come.”

“With all do respect, you’re still recovering,” Kane added.

I crossed my arms. “Name a champion,” I suggested. “Pains me to admit it, but Echo is good.”

“No, the clans will never accept a leader who hides behind another warrior,” Roan said, shaking his head.

“You’ll lose,” Octavia told him bluntly. “Lexa kicked your ass, even without a bullet hole in your chest.”

“They’re right, you’re weak,” I said. “Weak enough that you couldn’t even beat me, and I _also_ have a hole in my chest.”

He shot me a look. “We weren’t done.”

“At least delay the gathering until you’re well,” Kane suggested.

Roan shook his head sharply. “No. We need to keep the ambassadors happy, we can’t risk the clans uniting against us. If Azgeda falls, Skaikru falls. And then the radiation comes for us all.”

I smiled tersely. “Pretty sure that everyone is doing the best they can.” I looked to Octavia and Kane for backup, they both nodded. “We’ll talk to the ambassador, diplomacy usually works right?”

“Fine, but if you fail I’ll have no choice but to fight.”

I linked my arm through Octavia’s and practically dragged her out of the throne room. “When have you ever known diplomacy to work?” She asked.

“There’s a first time for everything,” I said through a fake smile. “Now get me the hell out of this tower.”

OoOoO

As we approached the Trishanakru enclave, their men stood hands on their weapons. Kane grabbed my arm. “Let me take point on this, alright?” I nodded. Octavia looked at me skeptically. She knew if I wanted to say something not even Kane could make me keep my mouth shut.

“Can we talk?” Kane asked Rafael, the ambassador. “We know you plan to challenge the King.”

Rafael looked unhappy, but waved his men away. “Ilian, stay.” A young man stopped and sat back down. Kane joined them. I hovered just over his shoulder. Octavia took a step back to monitor the situation, her hand resting on her sword.

“I’d like to ask you to reconsider,” Kane said.

“Ask? After all that Skaikru has done, you try diplomacy?” Rafael asked skeptically.

“Skaikru is not your enemy.”

Ilian scoffed. We turned to look at him. He slammed one of ALIE’s chips onto the table. “Skaikru made me kill my entire family. I have no one.”

“Skaikru also saved you from ALIE,” I reminded him. “Not to mention, it was your beloved Pramheda who created ALIE in the first place.”

Kane shot me a disapproving look. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he told Ilian. “The City of Light affected everyone, they targeted every clan. We’ve all suffered so much. The thirteen clans are stronger together.”

“You see, Ilian, the King is too weak to fight,” Rafael said. “His minions wouldn’t be here otherwise.” He turned back to us. “Skaikru has done nothing but cause our people pain. You reap what you sow, ambassador.” Rafael stood and left. Ilian followed after him.

“Well that went well,” Octavia muttered. Kane, looking disappointed, left without a word to either of us.

I looked in the direction Ilian had gone. “Maybe I could convince him,” I suggested. “Rafael may listen to him.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “You know your charms don’t work on everyone, right?”

“What charms?”

“Exactly.”

I shook my head. “Stay here, I’ll be back.” She groaned as I walked away, but I ignored her. I weaved in and out of people browsing the market stalls. It didn’t take me long to catch up to Ilian. “Hi, me again.” He glanced over, and kept walking. “Ilian, right? Look, I’m sorry about what happened to you. I know what it’s like to lose your family.”

“Were you chipped?” He asked. I shook my head. “Then you don’t understand.”

“My best friend was,” I told him. “She didn’t kill anyone, but she tried to kill herself. ALIE wanted something that we refused to give up. I thought I was going to lose her. If there had been a chip lying around, I would’ve taken it if it meant saving Raven.”

He sighed and veered off toward an alley, pulling me with him. “What do you want?”

“I want you to convince Rafael not to challenge Roan.”

“If I could, I would. Your people did this, not Azgeda.” Ilian shook his head disgusted. “But, the King protects Skaikru, so he must fall.”

“Tell Rafael to challenge Kane, or me. Unlike Roan, I’m happy to name a champion,” I suggested. “You want Skaikru, not the King.”

Ilian shook his head. “Like I said, even if I wanted to stop Rafael, I couldn’t. His mind is made up.” He stepped back out into the bustling street and disappeared. With a groan I returned to Octavia.

“How’d it go?” She asked. I glared. “That’s what I figured.”

“He wasn’t completely opposed to the idea,” I defended. “But, Rafael’s set on challenging Roan, so it’s a no go.”

Octavia crossed her arms. “Then there’s only one thing left to do.”

I let out a long breath. “We have to assassinate the ambassador.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to do anything,” she corrected. “In fact, I’m insisting that you go back to the tower. Keep training and focus on healing up.”

“I can’t let you do this alone,” I protested. “If you get caught-“

“If I get caught, I’ll deal with it. If _you_ get caught, the King will have no choice but to execute you,” she explained. “Any ambassador found plotting against another has to go. Roan might like you, but he won’t be able to save you from that.”

I frowned. “I never get caught.”

“The last time you tried to assassinate someone, it was a suicide mission. You would have gotten yourself killed if Bellamy and Clarke hadn’t pulled that lever.”

“Oh, come on! Completely different situation.” I groaned. “But fine, I get the point. You can take this one.”

She smiled; clearly pleased she’d won the argument. “See you at the gathering.”

OoOoO

Kane and I walked through the doors of the throne room. It was full of people, and thirteen chairs. We both went for the Skaikru seat, and then stopped abruptly. Kane motioned for me to take it. “No, you have the brand, I’ll just…” I stepped to the side of the chair, feeling more like a secretary than the face of our people.

Across the room the Trishanakru seat was empty. I found Octavia in the crowd and she gave me a subtle nod. “Where is Rafael kom Trishanakru?” Roan asked, looking around the room. Echo pushed through the doors and went straight to the King. She whispered in his ear. His eyes flicked toward me, I shrugged.

He stood up and addressed the room. “The ambassador was found dead this morning. His heart stopped.” Kane looked up at me sharply. I tried my hardest to look as shocked as everyone else, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t fooled. I turned my eyes back to Roan, as he started his speech, and hoped Kane would just let it go.


	34. Chapter 34

Roan and I were training in the throne room when shouts from the hallway interrupted us. “Haihefa!” I recognized Echo’s voice before she burst through the doors. She was so intent on delivering her message; she didn’t even stop to cast an annoyed look in my direction. “Someone’s broken in.”

“Broken in?” I repeated. I tried not to let the worry seep into my voice. I knew I failed when Roan put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t help but flashback to every time I’d been in the midst of an attack. Grounders, mountain men, even my own people under ALIE’s control. I had enough to worry about as it was without needing to fight for my life again.

For once, Echo looked at me with something other than annoyance. I was pretty sure the pity was worse. “They came and went,” she said, almost reassuringly. After a beat she turned to Roan and added, “They took the flame.”

Roan withdrew his hand from my shoulder. Losing the flame was worse than having a would-be assassin in our midst. Without it, Roan’s position was precarious at best. “Any witnesses?” Roan asked.

Echo shook her head. “Our best guess is one of Titus’ apprentices.”

“Those people are like a cult,” he said, with a frown. “Find them.”

“Right away.” Echo bowed and then disappeared as quickly as she’d arrived.

Roan was pacing. He didn’t have to say anything for me to see how stressed he was. I ran my fingers through my hair while I tried to think of a solution. “Octavia can help,” I said finally. “If anyone can figure out who took the flame, it’s her.” He glanced over and nodded. “She’s with Indra, I’ll go explain.”

He stopped pacing and shook his head. “No, it should be me.”

“It’s not safe for you down there,” I protested, turning to put myself between him and the door. “The people aren’t exactly pleased with your reign.”

“I’ll take guards, it will be fine. I don’t want you tied up in this.” I raised an eyebrow, wanting to comment that I was  _already_  tied up in this. After a paused he added, “You and Kane are the untainted faces of Skaikru, I can’t have you connected to any more assassinations. But Octavia, she’s exactly what we need.”

“They’ve been calling her Skairipa,” I whispered. “Death from above.” I knew things had changed, but Octavia would always be like my little sister. I hated to think of her as anyone’s assassin. But none of us were the same person we’d been on the Ark. “Be careful out there,” I muttered. I headed for the door before he could say anything else.

OoOoO

I spent hours alone in my room before I heard from anyone. Sometime after nightfall, Octavia came by, but only for a moment. She explained that they’d lost the flame and mumbled something about Indra. Then she’d darted out before I could press her about what actually happened. Things between the two of us had gotten better, but she still hadn’t let me back in yet.

Since the gathering, I’d only seen Kane a few times. He claimed it was only because I needed my rest, but I knew he was avoiding me. He’d come around eventually. He had to know I wouldn’t allow Octavia to kill someone without a good reason. Killing Rafael had been for the greater good. Then again, without the flame, Roan was in the same situation all over again.

Abby had sent up some of my things from Arkadia, Shauna’s book among them. I tried to read for a while, but my mind was too distracted to focus on the story. I wished I could go on a run, but the guards weren’t allowed to let me leave the tower at night. I paced my room for a while, before finally deciding to go to sleep. I groaned as I flopped down into my bed.

I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until my head hit the pillow. I’d been pushing myself in training. The faster I improved, the faster I could get back out in the field. I was going stir crazy in this tower. Not to mention, I was completely useless to everyone from up here. I drifted off, thoughts of training and field missions fading into quiet murmurs.

A shout startled me and I sat up quickly. I scanned the room before realizing the shout must have come from me. It didn’t feel like I’d even slept, but the dead quiet outside let me know it must be the middle of the night. The nightmare came back in fragments, but it wasn’t hard to fill in the blanks. I’d had the same dream at least a hundred times.

My door burst open. I nearly shrieked again before my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Roan stood in the doorway, sword in hand. “Maia, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, it was a nightmare,” I admitted sheepishly. I put my hand over my face embarrassed. “Did I wake you up all the way downstairs?”

He lowered his sword; pacified that no one was trying to kill me. “I was in the throne room.”

“Roan, it’s the middle of the night,” I reprimanded, nightmare momentarily forgotten. “Echo said you were barely sleeping.”

“There’s too much to worry about.” I motioned for him to take a seat on the couch, as he didn’t appear to be going to bed any time soon. “If I take a moment to rest, everything is going to come crashing down.”

“I know the feeling,” I sympathized. “But, not sleeping isn’t going to help. You need rest to gain your strength back. Not to mention, exhaustion and good decisions don’t exactly go hand in hand.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Abby is rubbing off on you.”

I shrugged. “You’re welcome to sleep on my couch, as long as you promise to actually get some rest. If anything happens, Echo can find you right here.”

Roan stretched out, kicking his feet up on the armrest. “I was right about this couch, it is comfortable.” I lay back down even though I knew I wasn’t getting anymore sleep tonight. Without Bellamy to calm me, it was hopeless.

“What happened in your nightmare?” Roan asked, as if sensing my restlessness. I pushed myself back up into a sitting position, so I could see him over the foot of my bed.

“It’s always the same thing every time. I’m always back in Mount Weather. They locked us in the dormitory and we had to fight back. But, there was nothing we could do, nothing  _I_  could do. They took people; some of them didn’t come back. I’ve never felt so helpless in my whole life. Some of them were just kids, they were counting on me.”

I was quiet for a moment before I continued. “In my nightmare I have to save someone, and I never can. Sometimes it’s people who weren’t even there, like Raven or Bellamy. Someone I’m worried about, or I don’t know, feel responsible for. It’s like I’m moving in slow motion, seeing what’s about to happen but helpless to stop it.” I shook my head and sighed. “I thought they’d stopped, I hadn’t had one in so long. Being away from my people, the weight is sort of off my shoulders, you know? But tonight…” I trailed off, looking out the window.

“Who did you have to save tonight?”

“You,” I whispered.

Roan sat up slowly, trying to hide his surprise. I shrugged. “You feel responsible for keeping the coalition together,” he assumed.

“Yeah, sure, but that’s not all of it,” I admitted. “You aren’t just a means to an end, at least not anymore. I don’t want any more blood on my hands. I can’t save everyone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. That’s why I’ve been training so hard. I need to get out there, I need to help.”

Neither of us said anything for a long time. Finally Roan lay back down. “Get some sleep, Maia.”

“Yeah, you too.” I lay back down, knowing full well I wasn’t getting any more rest tonight. But eventually Roan fell asleep. His heavy breathing across the room was relaxing. Even though I couldn’t sleep, I didn’t feel scared anymore.

OoOoO

Kane and I sat in Trikru’s building, he offered me something to drink but I shook my head. The room was packed, the remaining members of Trikru liked to stick together. “Why’d you call me here? I thought you were still upset about Rafael.”

“I am,” he admitted. I could hardly hear him over everyone else. “But, I know you, Maia. You don’t enjoy killing. You wouldn’t have sent Octavia after Rafael if there was any other way.” I nodded, waiting for him to get to the point. “But Octavia is not you. There’s a darkness in her.”

“I’m worried about her,” I said with a sigh. “She’s been distant lately, even after everything. But, calling it  _darkness_  sounds a bit harsh.”

“She beheaded a man,” he reminded me. “There was no reason for that.”

“He destroyed the flame.” I frowned. “Maybe beheading was a bit drastic, but it wasn’t entirely unwarranted.”

Kane sighed. “He didn’t destroy the flame. Indra’s daughter took it.” I stared at him blankly. “Gaia is protecting it. The flame will be safe in her hands. Octavia couldn’t kill her, so she came up with another option.”

I frowned. “Did you tell Octavia to lie to me?” I asked, though I knew Octavia well enough to know she wouldn’t hide something like that from me. “Why are you telling me now?”

“We couldn’t risk the King finding out,” he explained. “You and Roan have gotten close.” I opened my mouth to comment, but he quickly added, “Which is a good thing. But it’s also dangerous. When your guard is down you’re more likely to let something slip.”

“I know how to keep a secret,” I protested. “I was Robin Hood for  _years_  and it never slipped.”

“Because you never had friends,” he reminded me. I frowned, though he wasn’t wrong. “And the one person who knew everything, was the person who got you confined.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s not dredge up old feelings. You’re right about Octavia, we have to do something.”

Kane nodded. “I’m going to send her back to Arkadia. But, I wanted your opinion first. You’re still my councilor.”

Neither of us said anything for a moment. “Without Octavia things will be difficult. We’ll be the only ones here to protect Roan.” I paused and bit my lip. “But Polis isn’t good for her, she’s forgotten who she is. She’s like my sister, I want her safe.” I sighed. “I guess that isn’t a very objective decision.”

“It will be difficult to keep the King in power, especially without the flame. You and I will have to work twice as hard,” Kane told me. “But I hear you’re almost healed up, you can handle it.”

I nodded. “I’ll go get Helios saddled,” I offered. “The quicker we can get Octavia home, the better.

OoOoO

I was brushing Helios’s mane when Octavia burst in. The bang of the door hitting the wall was so loud I nearly tripped over the water bucket. Helios nuzzled Octavia lovingly and she gave the horse and distracted pat. “Honestly, Maia, how could you?”

I held my hands up in surrender. “I did what I thought was best.”

“Sending me back to Arkadia is  _best_?” Octavia asked incredulously. “Who’s going to protect the King now? You?” She shook her head. “You can’t do what needs to be done.”

“You mean, I won’t kill innocent people,” I clarified. I crossed my arms. “I’m sorry that I look for a better way, before I resort to beheadings.”

“Kane told you,” she realized, shaking her head.

I tossed down the brush. It clattered to the ground. “What would Lincoln think of this? He only wanted peace. That’s what he tried to teach you. Where did you go wrong?”

“Where did  _I_  go wrong?” She asked. “I’m not spitting on Lincoln’s memory. I remember all the lives that were lost. Do you?”

“Is this about me forgiving Bellamy?” I let out a sharp breath. “This is ridiculous. Yes, those grounders died for nothing, and it was terrible. But I am trying to save lives now, not contribute more death. What Bellamy did was wrong, but I love him. I know you love him too.”

“When will you realize love shouldn’t make you sacrifice who you are?” She grabbed Helios’s reins and turned away.

I started to go after her, but stopped myself. “If you don’t let go of this anger, it will eat you alive, Octavia,” I told her. She stopped, but didn’t turn around. Finally she walked away, leaving me alone.

OoOoO

After Octavia stormed off, I returned to my room. The tower was quiet, I only saw a few guards on my way upstairs. I was changing my bandages when I heard the lock click shut. I walked toward the door and jiggled the handle. “Hello?” I called. I was met with silence. I banged on the door. “Hey! Let me out!”

I ran over to the window and looked down. Several Azgeda guards were heading for lockup; they dragged two men along with them. I leaned forward, trying to make out who it was. Then one of them looked up. “Bellamy,” I whispered. I would have recognized his dark curls anywhere. I realized the other man must be Kane.

I sprinted back to the door, and dropped down to my knees to look at the lock. I pulled my knife out and wiggled it in the lock for a few minutes, until I heard the click. I pushed myself clumsily to my feet and opened the door. The hallway was completely empty.

I darted into the throne room, hoping Roan was inside. It was as dead as the rest of the floor. The elevator doors were closed and it took a lot of effort to pry them open. I gazed down at the open elevator shaft, my stomach doing summersaults as I reached for the ladder. I climbed down to the Azgeda delegation’s level, and reached for the doors.

They opened in front of me and Echo yanked me out into the hall without a word. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Where’s Roan?” The elevator was brought up and I was half dragged into it. Two guards joined us. When it stopped on the top floor, Echo shoved me out in front of her. I stumbled, almost falling, before regaining my balance.

“Just tell me what’s going on, don’t I deserve that?” I asked.

“Your people are traitors,” she said with disgust, pushing me back into my room. “The alliance is over.” She slammed the door in my face. I could make out the shadows of the two Azgeda guards in front of the door. Unless I wanted to go out the window, I was trapped.

Hours passed and I paced. The shrieks outside startled me, I ran for the window to see what was happening. A Trikru woman stood in the streets, wailing. She sounded like a dying animal. Across from her, Azgeda warriors streamed out of the Trikru building.

My door burst open and I nearly fell out the window. I whirled around ready to fight whoever it was. Roan stood in the doorway, his face solemn. “What happened? Why are you doing this?”

“Skaikru betrayed the alliance,” he told me. “They were only going to save themselves.”

“That’s not true!” I protested. “The Ark was a backup plan, there was going to be another way. Clarke just needed to find it. That’s why I wanted to leave so bad! We’re trying to find a way to save us all.”

Roan looked disappointed. “You knew.”

I looked down. “Of course, I knew. Kane told me everything. You had so much to worry about, I just didn’t want add anymore. We’re going to save everyone. I promise, Roan.”

“Skaikru’s word is no good,” he practically spat. “You only look out for yourselves. Its time Azgeda return to that philosophy too.”

“Roan, please. Whatever you’re planning, just give us another chance,” I begged. “We do want to help.  _I_  want to help.” He shook his head. I grabbed his arm. “Don’t you trust me? I thought we were friends.”

He shook me off. “I was wrong.” He motioned for the guards at the door. “Take her down to the others.”

The two men stepped toward me. They were broad shouldered and intimidating. I made a leap for my gun and backed myself into the corner. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, please don’t make me.” The two Azgeda guards looked at Roan unsure.

Roan stepped toward me slowly. “I don’t want to hurt you either,” he said calmly. “To escape you’ll have to shoot a lot of people. I know you don’t want to do that.” I gripped the gun tighter, pointing it right at him. I felt like I was in the hallway on the Ark, the day of my arrest. Tears welled up in my eyes. Roan grabbed my hands and I let him take the gun.

Roan backed away and his guards grabbed my arms. I squeezed my eyes shut as they led me out of the room. It took all my willpower not to let any tears fall. 


	35. Chapter 35

On the ground level, Bellamy and Kane were in chains. Echo stood in front of them, her war paint smeared from sweating. Bellamy was looking at the ground. I looked at Kane for answers. “Maia, I’m so sorry,” he said finally.

I frowned. “For what? This mess is my fault as much as yours.”

“No, it’s not that-“

“Octavia is dead,” Echo said. She held her head high, but I could see in her eyes that she wasn’t proud to say it. “We tried to take her alive, but she refused. It was a good death, she fought bravely.”

A chill ran down my spine. I felt the tears prick my eyes again, this time I didn’t try to hold them back. “No,” I whispered. “No, Octavia can’t-“ The words caught in my throat. The warrior behind me grabbed my arm to keep me from dropping to my knees.

Bellamy looked up. The pain I felt was multiplied a hundredfold in his eyes. I wanted to hug him, to comfort him even though I knew there was no comfort for this kind of pain. She had been his life from the moment she was born. The Blakes had been my family for a decade. I would have done anything for them. And yet, the last moment I would ever have with her would be a fight.

“Time to move,” Roan said. His voice cut through the dead silence. My jaw trembled, even as I gritted my teeth and tried to stop the tears. I could be strong, just long enough to get through this.

“Where are you taking us?” Kane asked. I was glad he was here to be the level-headed one.

“Arkadia,” Roan said. “Your ship can withstand praimfaya. We’re going to take it.” The man behind me slipped a bag over my head, blocking my view, as we were lead out into the streets.

OoOoO

I tried to say something to Bellamy a few times, but each time I started, someone pressed a knife against my back. It was probably for the best, there was nothing I could say that would ease Bellamy’s pain. I tried to keep track of time while we walked, but it was hard in the darkness.

Finally we stopped. Around me the warriors were talking. Their voices overlapped, making it hard for me to understand. “We need to talk!” I recognized the voice, Clarke. So that’s why we stopped, she knew Azgeda was coming. Roan shouted for the archers to draw. But nothing happened. More murmuring that I couldn’t quite translate.

Echo called us forward. We were pushed ahead and then to our knees. The bag was ripped from my head. I took in my surroundings. We were in the gulch, Skaikru guards darted the cliff faces. It had been Pike’s planned location for a stand too. Someone had been paying attention.

“Ten minutes,” Clarke pleaded. “That’s all I need.”

To my right, Roan dismounted and started toward her. Clarke turned and headed toward the tree line. Our cave was just over the ridge; it was the most secure location for miles. “Wait, what if it’s a trap?” Echo called after Roan.

Roan looked over his shoulder. “It is, we’re already in it.”

As I watched him go, I began to think about this plan. If it worked, it was genius. If it didn’t, this was the end of the road for me. It startled me how nonchalantly I considered my own death. “Maia,” Bellamy whispered. I glanced over at him. “Someone warned them.” I nodded, not seeing his point. “You, Kane, and Octavia were the only Skaikru in Polis.”

I let out a breathy laugh. I felt tears welling up again, but this time they were happy ones. “Octavia is alive.” Bellamy nodded. His eyes were so much lighter now, knowing his sister was out there.

Several Azgeda men started shouting, and they drew their bows. I followed their gaze to the cliff. Monty walked toward us, hands raised. I didn’t have to know the whole plan to know that this was not part of it. “I’m unarmed!” He shouted. “I need to talk to whoever’s in charge!”

A warrior in a skull mask grabbed Monty and shoved him toward us. Monty fell to the ground, landing right in front of me. I moved my hands to help him up, but the chains cut into my wrists. “Is Octavia alive?” Bellamy whispered. Monty looked between the two of us and nodded.

“Speak,” Echo said, coming up beside us.

“One of our people has moved out of formation,” Monty explained. “I have reason to believe he’s trying to kill your king.”

Echo was visibly shaken, but she tried to hide it. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Why do you think?” Bellamy asked incredulously. “He’s trying to stop a massacre.”

“Who is it?” Kane asked.

“Riley.”

“Riley?” Bellamy repeated. “He shouldn’t even be here.” The name didn’t mean anything to me. Apparently I’d missed a few things while I was in Polis.

Echo motioned for two of her warriors to follow her. “Wait!” Monty shouted. “If our snipers see your archers move, they’ll shoot.”

“I won’t allow my king to be assassinated.”

“Neither will I,” I said. “Take me with you, they’ll let you walk out of here if you’re with me.” Echo frowned. “I made a promise that I would keep Roan alive. Unlike him, I keep my promises.” She sighed, but nodded. I was helped to my feet.

“I know Riley,” Bellamy said. “I’ll go too, I can talk him down.” He started to stand up, but Echo gave him a scalding look.

“Only Maia,” she said firmly. “Take off her chains and put them on that one.” She nodded toward Monty. The chains were removed from my ankles. I gave Monty an apologetic look, but he shook his head. “If I’m not back before the sun goes behind the trees, kill the hostages,” Echo commanded.

“I got this,” I promised Monty.

He nodded. “I know.”

I headed for the trees and Echo followed. I didn’t have to look back to know her sword was drawn. I led her up and over the ridge. The path to the cave had become quite familiar while Pike had been in charge. “We’ll find him up here, best sight line to the cave.” Echo just grunted. “You know you killed my friend. Her name was Shauna Bishop. She died in Mount Weather.”

“I was following orders.”

“Isn’t everyone?” I shook my head. “She was good with computers, like  _really_  good. I don’t know if she could’ve helped stop praimfaya, but I wouldn’t doubt it. We could’ve used her.”

“I know the things I’ve done,” Echo said. “I know what lies on my shoulders. You don’t have to tell me.”

“You’ve hated me since I got to Polis,” I noted. “It’s not just because I’m Skaikru, is it?” Echo was silent. “It’s just us girls, I can keep a secret.” I glanced over my shoulder. She made a sour face. “Seriously, I don’t get it. What did I do to offend you so bad?”

“He trusts you,” she said finally. I tilted my head in confusion. “Roan. He likes you, and I don’t understand why. At first I thought he kept you in Polis to weaken your people, you were important to Skaikru. But, it wasn’t that. He wanted you because you were loyal and trustworthy. Good traits to surround yourself with.”

I was still baffled by her explanation. “Are you jealous?”

“I will always be a spy,” Echo said. “This is the life that was chosen for me. I am good at what I do. But, my people will always look at my scarless skin and see a spy. My King will never trust me, no matter how many times I prove myself to him.” She shook her head. “I wanted you to be disappointing, to not live up to expectations. But you have, because you  _are_  loyal and trustworthy.”

“I’m a firm believer that everyone can change,” I said. “We all make mistakes, but we all deserve second chances. What other people see in us doesn’t matter. Arbitrary titles like spy or thief don’t define us. We define ourselves.” I looked over at her and she glanced away. “If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy. It might take time, but it’s up to you to decide who you are.”

She was quiet for a minute. “I’m sorry about your friend,” she said. “And I’m glad that Octavia lived.” I gave her a soft smile.

Her eyes drifted ahead, she pointed. I followed her gaze to the boy lying on the ridge. “That must be him. Hang back, I’ve got this.” I jogged toward him. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Riley?”

“You’re Robin Hood,” he murmured. “Maia, right?” I nodded. “You should go.”

“I can’t do that,” I told him. I glanced back at Echo. She reached for her bow. I held up a hand quickly. “No, definitely not the signal I was trying to send there,” I hissed. I turned back to Riley, who was now on edge. “Riley, put down the gun. I left Kane, Bellamy, and Monty back there. If you pull that trigger, Azgeda will kill them.”

“You’re their prisoner, why should I believe anything you say?” He asked.

“I’ve done the whole mouthpiece for the bad-guy thing. I can promise you that I will never let myself be used like that again.” I knelt down next to him. “I’m trying to save people.”

“Ours or theirs?” He countered.

“We don’t have time for this,” Echo said. She raised her bow. I leaped up and stood between her and Riley.

“I’m assuming Azgeda hurt you, right?” I asked Riley, looking over my shoulder. He nodded. “They took one of my best friends. I know it’s probably insignificant compared to what you’ve been through. But, I’m telling you, killing the King will not fix anything. It won’t bring back Shauna, and it won’t erase your pain.”

He glanced over at me. “How do you know?”

“Because I’ve killed people too, Riley. It never feels as satisfying as you think it’s going to feel, not even when they  _really_  deserve it.” I looked toward the cave. “And that man does not deserve it.”

I walked in front of Riley, he tried to adjust but I moved with him. I held my hands up in surrender. “If you want to kill him, you have to kill me first.” Riley was trembling, and then he pushed the gun away. He buried his face in his hands and started crying. I knelt in front of him and wrapped my arms around him. “Shh, it’s okay. We’re going to get through this together.” I rubbed his arms reassuringly. “Go back to Arkadia, we’ll be there soon.”

I stood up. Echo had already started toward Roan and Clarke. I gave Riley one last look before joining them. Roan and Clarke both looked surprised to see us. “Maia, are you okay?” Clarke asked. I nodded.

“What’d we miss?” Roan asked. Echo and I shared a look. She just shook her head.

“So, we’re not going to war?” I asked.

“Not today.”

“If we can’t crack nightblood, then we’ll share Arkadia,” Clarke explained. “We’ll find a way to survive  _together_.”

I opened my mouth to tell Clarke she was stealing my line, but before I could, an explosion cut me off. We all turned toward the sound. A plume of black smoke rose in the distance. “It came from Arkadia,” Clarke whispered.


	36. Chapter 36

When we reached Arkadia, it was complete chaos. The whole ship was in flames. People were scattered, screaming and searching the smoke for their loved ones. Bellamy and I pushed through them. “Octavia!” I shouted.

“She was in medical,” Clarke said. I started toward the far side of the ship, but Bellamy grabbed my arm. He tugged me toward the door. Ilian emerged from the flaming wreckage. In one arm he held Niylah, and in the other, Octavia. Bellamy and I rushed toward him.

As Bellamy took Octavia, I grabbed Ilian’s arm. “Thank you.” He gave me a grim look before disappearing into the chaos. I dropped down next to the Blakes. I ran my fingers over Octavia’s hair. Bellamy put one arm around me, pulling the three of us together for a moment.

“It was Ilian,” Octavia wheezed. “I tried to stop him.”

There was a loud creak. We looked up as a piece of the ship collapsed, crushing everything beneath it. I pressed my face into Bellamy’s neck, cradling Octavia between us. I couldn’t watch my home burn anymore.

OoOoO

I made a lap around the wreckage to make sure we hadn’t missed anyone. It was a disaster. There would be no safety from praimfaya in Arkadia when the fire died out. I turned the corner, around the back, and found Mr. Carpenter. He was kneeling in front of the back entrance. The Library was just around the corner.

“We’re trying to clear the area while we assess the damage,” I told him hesitantly. “You should go meet up with the others.”

“He’s really gone,” he whispered. I knelt down next to him. “Everything I had left of him is gone.”

“Your son?” I asked.

He nodded. This close I could see the tears that slowly spilled over his face. “I kept everything. Heller’s drawings, his favorite books. He was gone, but I always had a piece of him with me.”

“The library always felt like a second home to me. Maybe some of it survived?” The library’s central location had been one of my reason’s for accepting the job there back on the Ark. It had been right below the control center, now it was down the hall from the server room. But, maybe some of the books had survived. Lawrence put his arm around me. I lay my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence for a moment, watching the flames.

“I worked so hard to keep the library running,” he said. “I poured everything I had into it. How will they remember now? We’ll be doomed to repeat our pasts unless we remember.”

“ _We_  remember,” I reminded him. “You and I have read every book in that library a dozen times. That’s why we’re Council members.”

“Former,” he corrected.

“That’s your own fault.” I shook my head disapprovingly. “There are more libraries. I mean, some books had to survive the bombs, right?”

“I suppose if they were kept under the right conditions,” he mused. I recognized the look in his eyes. He was thinking ahead, planning. Getting lost in books he hadn’t even opened.

“When this is over, and we beat the radiation, we’ll find another library,” I promised. “And Heller isn’t gone, he’s right here.” I tapped Mr. Carpenter’s head. “As long as you remember, he’s always with you.”

OoOoO

We met in Kane’s office the next morning to discuss the damages. It hadn’t been quite as bad as I’d thought at first. Life support was down, but we weren’t sleeping on blankets under the stars. At least we had shelter if the black rain came.

“The library was hit pretty bad,” I told everyone. “Two shelves survived with minimal damage. Lawrence is looking through the others to see if we can save anything else.”

“It’s a good thing we had most of the books scanned into the system,” Kane said. I frowned. I wanted to say that reading books on a tablet didn’t hold a candle to reading books on paper, but I kept my mouth shut.

“So we have no running water, most of our history is gone, and half our people lost their homes,” Bellamy summed up. “Is there any good news?”

“You forgot the heat doesn’t work,” I added. “Though, it is spring, so that won’t be an issue for a while.”

“No one died, that’s what matters,” Kane told us.

The door opened and Clarke walked in. “Forget about the Ark, we need to focus on getting those barrels of hydrazine to Raven.”

Bellamy sighed. I had the feeling we were about to get some more bad news. “It isn’t going to be a easy trip.”

Roan leaned on the table. “I sent Echo and my army back to Polis to keep the peace, it won’t be easy now that everyone knows praimfaya is coming. Half of them deserted on the way. With the end coming, they want to be home. I don’t blame them.”

“Do you blame them for burning Trikru villages to the ground along the way?” Bellamy asked bitterly.

“That’s funny coming from you,” Roan said raising an eyebrow.

I took a deep breath. “So, the forest is a warzone, great. Just means we’ll have to be twice as careful. It’ll be fine, we’ll keep an eye out for grounders, and everything will be fine.” Bellamy gave me a skeptical look. We all knew better than to believe everything would ever go so smooth.

“I can’t spare many guards to protect you,” Kane said.

“My security detail will come with us,” Roan told him. “We’re all in this together now, right?” He glanced at me.

I nodded once. “Sounds like we’ve got our plan. Let’s get going, the sooner we get that rocket fuel to Raven, the sooner we’re all safe.” Everyone nodded their agreement and headed for the door.

Bellamy touched my arm as I was leaving. “I’m going to check on Octavia before we go, I’ll meet you at the rover.”

“I’ve got to grab my backpack, but I’ll stop and say goodbye to her too.” We parted ways in the hall, and Roan was immediately by my side. I kept walking, hoping he’d take the hint. He didn’t.

He stuck with me as I walked around the corner and down the hall to my room. I opened the door and gave him an annoyed look before motioning for him to come inside. “Echo told me what you did,” he said. “That you were willing to take a bullet for me.”

“I was trying to stop a war,” I said with a shrug. “I’d do it for anyone.”

“I believe that.” He nodded. “But I wanted to thank you anyway, Maia.”

I sat down, crossing my legs underneath me. “You don’t have to thank me, I made a promise. I try not to break those.”

He sat down next to me. “I’m sorry about what I said.” I raised an eyebrow. “But you have to understand that I did what I thought was best for my people. I had pressure on me to retaliate against Skaikru. Echo’s information was good, but not complete.”

I frowned. “You should have come to me.”

“What would you have done?” He countered.

“If Azgeda had broken the treaty? Stabbed you in the neck probably,” I said serious. Roan laughed, a rare sound, and soon I joined in. “I mean, I would have felt bad about it after I realized I was wrong. But, you’re right. This is a shoot first, ask questions later type of world.”

“From now on, I swear that I’ll hear you out first. Your word is good, Maia. I trust you.”

I smiled softly. “Thanks, Roan.” I stood up and grabbed my backpack. “While we’re making promises here, you think you might give Bellamy a break? I really don’t want to deal with the two of you at each other’s throats.”

“No promises.”

I shook my head with a sigh. “Didn’t figure.”

OoOoO

As I rounded the corner to the infirmary, I came face to face with Bellamy. He looked devastated. I grabbed his arm. “Hey, Bell, are you okay?”

He didn’t respond, just shook me off lightly. “I’ll meet you at the rover.” I frowned as he walked away, but didn’t try to stop him.

I went into the infirmary and found Octavia on her side, back to the door. “You feeling better?” I asked, drumming my fingers lightly over her arm.

She glanced up, eyes cold. “Shouldn’t you be with my brother?”

“Okay, forgive me for coming to check on you, I’ll leave you alone.” I’d put up with Octavia’s attitude for far too long. I wasn’t going to waste what little time we had left playing therapist.

As I turned away, she grabbed my wrist sharply. “Stop apologizing for him, and stop apologizing for me. We’ve both made our choices. Now pick a side.” She let me go and rolled back over.

I shook my head and turned away. If Octavia wanted to issue ultimatums in her last remaining days on Earth, then that was her prerogative. But she was right, I’d been playing peacemaker between the Blakes for half my life. I was over it.

OoOoO

When I made it outside, everyone was mostly loaded up. It was an overcast day, which felt like a bad omen. I tapped my fingers on my chest, where my necklace had once been and my new scar was. I walked up to the cargo truck and hopped into the back. Roan gave me a knowing look. “You look pissed,” he noted.

“You could say that. I hope this goes well, because I am not in the mood.” I paused. “Then again, I wouldn’t mind kicking someone’s ass.”

Monty walked over and leaned on the back of the truck. “Keep them from doing anything too crazy out there, alright?”

“Them who?” I asked, dangling my legs over the back end of the truck. “Clarke and Bellamy or Azgeda?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Both.”

I laughed and leaned down to hug him. “Keep an eye on things here, okay? And watch out for Octavia, she’s not in a great place right now.”

“I can’t believe we just got you back, and you’re already running off again.” Monty shook his head. “Be careful out there.”

“As soon as this is over, you’re going to see so much of me you’ll wish the world was ending all over again.”

“Please don’t say that,” he warned. “One apocalypse at a time.”

I laughed and waved as he walked away. I swung my legs back up into the truck and slid over to lean against the side. “You know it’s bad when I’m the bar for levelheadedness.” Roan raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t always had a reputation for keeping the peace. It’s a long story.”

Roan crossed his arms and leaned back. “It’s a long drive.”

I sighed. “Well, in that case. We can start at the beginning.”

OoOoO

We’d been driving for an hour or so when the truck came too a halt. I hopped up and grabbed my radio. “Why are we stopping?”

“Trikru checkpoint, stay where you are,” Bellamy answered. Roan and his four guards crouched, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

I motioned for them to sit back down. “Don’t do anything rash, we’re not trying to kill anyone today.”

I leaned around the cover to look at what was going on. Clarke was kneeling next to someone on the side of the road. A kid wandered along the side of our truck. I looked down at him. He started toward me. “Bellamy, clear the road, now.” I tried to shoo the kid away, but he walked closer, curious.

Behind me I motioned for Roan and his men to backup, but they weren’t quick enough. As soon as the kid’s eyes moved past me and saw the truck full of Azgeda he ran screaming. “Go, go, go!” I shouted into the radio.

I swung back into the truck, almost losing my balance, as the truck started moving. Arrows flew overhead. Roan pulled me out of the way as one flew past my shoulder. “Thanks. Just recovered from the last one, not interested in a repeat.” I groaned. “Can we not go one day without getting shot at?”

OoOoO

After a while we stopped again. “For fucks sake,” I groaned. I hopped out of the truck and walked around to the front. A river blocked out path. “How did no one think to warn us about a river?”

Roan walked up next to me. “Ice melt,” he said. “I’ll find a crossing upstream.”

“I’ll go with you,” I offered.

“Wait, take the rover, you’ll cover ground quicker,” Clarke suggested. “Bellamy, go with them, the rest of us will stay here and guard the fuel.”

Bellamy and Roan looked at each other with contempt. I rolled my eyes. “I know how to drive the rover, it’s fine.”

“No, I’m going with you,” Bellamy said quickly. He opened the door, and got in the driver’s seat. I gave Clarke a look, as I got in the back.

The ride downstream was surprisingly quiet. But the silence wasn’t exactly comfortable. It felt like Bellamy and Roan were giving each other the silent treatment. I leaned between the seats to look out the windshield. “This looks good, best we’re going to get at least.”

Bellamy pulled out his radio. “Clarke, we found a crossing. Over.” There was silence from the other end. “Cargo one, do you read me? Over. Clarke, come in.”

“Bell, turn around, something’s wrong.” He nodded and whipped the rover around. We returned to the same spot we’d left, but the cargo truck was gone. I jumped out the back and looked around for signs of where they’d gone.

Bellamy tried to radio Clarke again, while I walked along the shore. “Guys, over here! There’s something in the water,” I called back to them. Bellamy and Roan ran over and splashed through the water to retrieve what was floating. I knew it was a body before they got it to shore. It was wrapped in the cover from the truck.

We all paused for a moment, before pulling back the canvas. Finally I reached down and grabbed it. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it wasn’t Clarke. It was one of Roan’s men. “Trikru did this.”

“They wanted a ride to Polis, right?” I remembered. “They must have headed that way. One of ours must be alive, they would’ve needed someone to drive the truck.”

We sprinted back to the rover and Bellamy wasted no time in hitting the gas. We flew through the trees. I held on to the backs of the seats, afraid if I let go I’d go sliding out the back door. “We have to intercept them before they reach Polis,” Roan said. “If they get that fuel, they’ll make bombs. They’ll kill everyone.”

“You mean they’ll kill Ice Nation,” Bellamy corrected. “All you care about is your own people.”

“Bellamy, stop,” I protested. “Now is not the time.”

“Why are you defending him, Maia?” Bellamy asked, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “He almost had you killed.”

“So did you,” Roan countered. “She was almost gutted because you gave her up.”

Bellamy looked at me sharply. “You told him about that?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes, but I didn’t realize I was giving him ammunition,” I defended. “ _Roan_.”

“He started it.”

Bellamy opened his mouth, but I leaned between the seats and put a hand over both of their mouths. “The next person to open their mouth is going to get punched in it. I am not in the mood.”

Up ahead, a body lay in the middle of the road. I pulled my hands back. Bellamy stopped the rover and started to get out. “Wait,” Roan said.

“They left a body, we need to move it and see if we can find their trail,” Bellamy said as if Roan were dumb.

“Trikru burn their dead,” Roan noted. “They’re still here.”

Bellamy looked outside skeptical. “He’s right,” I admitted. “This seems off, why would they leave him in the middle of the road like that? They have the whole truck to carry him.”

Before anyone could say anyone else, someone jumped on the truck. In a few moments Trikru surrounded us. I moved to the back to hold the door shut. Bellamy pointed his gun out the window. “I don’t want to shoot you, just tell me where Clarke is.”

“Give us the king!” The grounder shouted back.

“The truck isn’t here,” Roan said suddenly. “Everyone does what’s best for their people.” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “My men took it.”

No one said anything for a moment, and then Bellamy hit the gas. “Hold on!” He shouted as he whipped the rover around, slinging grounders off as we went.

I let go of the door and fell back onto the floor with a groan. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”


	37. Chapter 37

"There they are!" Roan shouted. I sat up quick and pushed myself toward the window. On the back of the truck, two of the Azgeda warriors pushed a barrel of hydrazine toward the edge.

"They're trying to blow us up," I realized. "We can't let them waste that fuel."

Roan climbed over the seat, pushing me out of the way. "Get me as close as you can." He opened the hatch and pulled himself up on top of the rover. I watched as he leapt over onto the truck, and then I started up after him.

"Maia, what are you doing?" Bellamy shouted. "Come back!"

I ignored him and climbed on top of the rover. With both grounders distracted, neither of them noticed me. "Roan, move!" I shouted. He jumped out of the way, just in time. I landed on the truck, sword drawn, and stabbed one of the men through the stomach.

Roan dealt with the other man. I grabbed the barrel of hydrazine teetering dangerously close to the edge. The warrior swung at me, I narrowly escaped by ducking behind the barrel. Roan tackled him and I pushed the barrel back to safety.

Roan stabbed the traitor and shoved him from the truck. We came to an abrupt halt, and my feet flew out from underneath me. Roan grabbed me around the waist and kept me from falling to the ground. "That was good," he said. "Reckless, but good."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I had a great trainer."

He laughed and helped me to the ground. "We make a good team."

"We definitely do."

OoOoO

I rode in the rover with Bellamy, while Clarke and Roan took the truck. We made it past the river; from there it wasn't far to the shoreline. Abby was supposed to send a boat to pick us up along with the hydrazine.

"What you did back there scared the shit out of me," Bellamy said. "But I have to admit, Octavia would've been proud."

I laughed quietly. "Yeah, I did feel like skairipa for a moment there. But playing peacemaker is much more up my alley."

"About that, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know you and Roan are...friends, or whatever."

"We are, I trust him. You have every right to distrust Azgeda, I do too," I admitted. "But Roan is not his mother, and he isn't Echo. He's just doing what's best for his people, same as the rest of us."

"I'm going back to Arkadia, after we drop off the fuel," he said.

"Because of Roan?" I asked with a frown.

"Because of Octavia."

I sighed. "Bellamy-"

"I know, I know," he said, shaking his head. "It's pathetic. She hates me, but I keep going back for more."

"Before we left, she told me to stop apologizing for both of you, and she was right. Just because I've forgiven you, doesn't mean I have the right to force anyone else to. I can't keep telling you that she'll come around, because honestly, she might not. And maybe that's not a bad thing. This back and forth, it's not healthy for either of you. Ever since we got down here, she's blamed you for something. She drags you through hell, and you take it, because she's your sister."

"And I get it, I do. Octavia has always been like a sister to me," I continued. "I want things to go back to the way they were, but that is never going to happen. On the Ark, we lived in a vacuum with no choice but to love each other. Of course things were going to change on the ground."

"It isn't the same. You chose to take care of her; she wasn't your responsibility until you chose for her to be. She's  _always_  been my responsibility. Nothing can change that." He sighed. "And if the world is going to end, I can't go out with things like this between us."

He pulled to a stop by the shoreline. I leaned forward on the dash for a moment. "What about us? What if the radiation comes before Abby synthesizes nightblood?"

"You're the one who refused to believe we only had six months left, remember?" He pulled me toward him. "I'd ask you to come back with me, but I want you to be first in line for nightblood when it's ready. I need to know you're safe, no matter what happens to me."

"Bell, I'm not going to take it without you," I protested.

He held my hands tight. "Yes, you will," he insisted. "Promise me you'll do it." He looked so determined. I couldn't help but nod. "If we never see each other again, I want you to be happy."

"I love you," I whispered. He leaned toward me and kissed me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and refused to let go.

"I love you too." He slipped away and opened the door. I sat there for a moment, until I was sure I wasn't going to start crying.

Finally, I opened the door and stepped outside. The sea air was refreshing. "The boat is on its way," Clarke told me.

"We have a problem," Roan called, from the back of the truck. The three of us joined him. He turned one of the barrels toward us. A Trikru arrow stuck out of the bottom. He shoved the barrel off the truck and it landed with an empty clang. Our already short supply had gotten even shorter.

OoOoO

Spirits weren't exactly high when we reached the island. Without the tenth barrel of fuel, Raven couldn't land the rocket. The plan had been a shot in the dark anyway, but we were desperately running out of ideas. With Raven's calculations, the black rain would be arriving any time now.

Murphy and his grounder girlfriend, Emori, met us at the mansion. ALIE had spent her century-long life in style that was sure. Clarke headed down to Becca's lab, while Roan and I stayed to help unload the fuel. I spotted Miller in the garage.

I ran up behind Miller, while he had his back turned and grabbed his shoulders. He jumped and I burst out laughing. He turned around and shook his head. "Just in time to ruin my piece and quiet before the world ends. Perfect."

"Oh please, you know you missed me," I teased. "I may have been seriously out of it the last time you saw me, but don't think I forgot how sappy you got."

Miller shushed me. "We agreed not to take about that, remember?" We both laughed loud, and he pulled me into a hug. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Maybe I did miss you, but just a little bit. How was Polis?"

I glanced at Roan out of the corner of my eye. "Interesting. How's it been here?"

"Pretty damn great, minus the whole world-ending thing," he said. "I mean, you've got to use these showers, they're on a whole other level."

I sighed wistfully. "A shower sounds heavenly."

"I think we can handle things here," he told me. "Go inside, you could seriously use a shower." Miller pretended to fan away the smell. I made a face at him, but headed inside.

Jackson caught up with me, before I could get too far. "Has Clarke told you about Raven?" He asked.

I nodded. "She had a seizure, how did that even happen?"

He sighed. "When you guys zapped her with the EMP to remove ALIE, a piece of the code was left in her brain. That's why she was able to read the City of Light code," he explained. "But she's been working on overdrive, and it's starting to have consequences."

"But it's curable right?" I asked.

Jackson nodded, but he looked stressed. "The only cure is rest, and Raven isn't doing a lot of that right now. We've got her sedated at the moment. Hopefully that will give her some time to recover."

"Can I see her?"

"Not right now, but she'll be awake soon." I knew Raven was strong. She'd already survived so much. What was another near death experience on top of everything else? But, she was my best friend, and I couldn't help but worry about her. Jackson patted my shoulder. "Go upstairs, turn left. The rooms at the end of the hall are free, take whichever one you want."

I nodded and headed toward the stairs. I'd never been anywhere as nice as this mansion. Upstairs, I peeked into the open bedrooms, and finally decided on the one at the end. The furniture was in varying shades of grey and silver. I walked over to the window and pushed back the curtains, the view outside was stunning. I could see all the way out to the water. Below me was a pool. I grinned. If the world was going to end, I was going to spend my last days in that pool.

I turned around and let out a long breath. I started to flop down onto the bed, but remembered how sweaty and gross I was. Instead I headed into the bathroom. Just the bathroom itself was nicer than anything I'd ever seen. I felt like I was in a book, there was no way this was real.

I opened the shower door. There was a control panel and I reached out and tapped it. Half a dozen options popped up, I frowned and started pressing buttons. Three different showerheads shot out water from different directions. "I've died and gone to heaven."

OoOoO

I probably stayed in the shower for much longer than necessary. When I finally did get out, I started opening all the cabinets and drawers. Everything was stocked up, as if someone had been living here a few days ago. I managed to find some clothes in the closet that looked about my size.

I stood in front of the mirror, messing with my damp hair. My eyes traveled down to the arrow wound on my chest. It was ugly and clearly visible over the neckline of the t-shirt. It was on its way to healing. It no longer looked red and irritated; Abby had done a good job stitching it up.

It was obvious I would end up with a scar. A big, ugly scar. I knew it was stupid to worry about it, when there were a million other things that needed my attention. But here I was. I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the ground. The scar on my stomach had healed long ago. The light pink line stood out on my brown skin. I'd gotten used to that one eventually, but it was also a lot less obvious.

"My people think scars tell a story," Roan said from the doorway. I jumped. I hadn't even realized I'd left my door open. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"At least your scars are on purpose," I noted. "And they're usually a little more artistic." I frowned as I pressed on the new forming scar tissue. If you squinted it looked a little like a jagged diamond.

Roan stepped toward me and pulled out his knife. "May I?" I shrugged. He closed the distance between us and put one hand on the small of my back. He held the knife up to the scar, sizing it up. "Do you trust me?" I looked at him for a moment before nodding.

He led me over to the bed and sat me down, and then he grabbed my guard jacket from the ottoman. Roan looked between it and me and held up his knife again. "This is going to hurt." I nodded once. He pressed the tip of the knife into my skin, above the scar. It stung, but I didn't make a noise. Roan worked in silence for several minutes. He sat back and looked at me for a moment, and then nodded.

Roan stood and motioned for me to follow him to the mirror. The Chancellor's design was right in the middle of my chest. Not too big, but big enough to obscure my scar. "Now when you look at your scar you won't see a blemish. Instead you'll see your people close to your heart, where they should be."

I smiled. "Thank you."

Roan stayed for a moment, as if he wanted to say something else. Finally he just nodded once and turned to leave. "See you in the morning for training?"

I sighed but it turned into a quiet laugh. "Goodnight, Roan."


	38. Chapter 38

When Roan had disappeared into his room across the hall, I headed downstairs. I was exhausted, but I wanted to explore before I went to sleep. I found Murphy in the kitchen, leaning over a cookbook. "Wow," he said when I walked in. "I forgot what you looked like under all that dirt."

I made a face. "Funny, you're all cleaned up, but still all I see is dirt."

He laughed and shook his head. "Well, you aren't wrong."

"What're you making for dinner?" I pushed him out of the way so I could look at the cookbook.

"I don't know, I've kind of just been flipping through and making whatever we've got the stuff for."

I filliped through a few pages. "Ooh, spaghetti Bolognese. Do we have the right ingredients?" He glanced over the page and nodded. "Great, this is my favorite. We always tried to make it, but Bellamy screwed up the sauce every time."

"I didn't realize Bellamy cooked."

"Well, only on birthdays. Normally I just did it myself. Sometimes Octavia would help. Most of the time we had to fend for ourselves, Aurora was never really around." I shook my head and started looking for everything I needed. "I'm surprised  _you_  cook."

"With my parents gone, I had to figure it out. We were sort of dealing with the same thing I guess." He turned on the stove to boil water for the pasta. I started mixing up the sauce.

"I forgot about your parents. Your dad got caught trying to steal meds for you, right?" He nodded. "My dad got floated for doing the same for my mom. Crazy how normal stuff like that was on the Ark. No wonder we all ended up confined."

"At least your revenge on the Council was a little more successful," he noted. "I didn't even get down the hall before they caught me."

"An arsonist is a little more noticeable than a thief," I amended. I sighed. "Most of us thought we were doing a good thing. Sticking it to the man or whatever. I think that's why we all got along so well on the ground. We may have been criminals, but we all thought the same."

"You do remember that you lived alone in the woods for two weeks, right?" He reminded. "And I was almost hanged on day three? I'm not sure  _got along_  is the right term."

"To be fair, I had a good reason for avoiding camp," I told him. "As for you, refer to my earlier comment about dirt." I gave the sauce a stir as I thought. "You know, if it weren't for the Blakes, I would've ended up like you. I mean Aurora was a shitty replacement parent, but at least I had a family. I had to steal to make sure Octavia had enough to eat. If I didn't have that responsibility, who knows what I would have done...probably something crazy."

"Your idea of something crazy is like..." he paused. "Stealing a gun, but then giving it away instead of using it." He walked over to the sink to drain the pasta.

I frowned and held up the spoon I was using. "I was trying to have a nice moment, but now I just want to smack you with this spoon."

He laughed as he sat the pot down. "Remember that time you held me at gunpoint? That was a lot more threatening."

"Yeah, good times." I laughed and made myself a plate. I sat cross-legged on one of the barstools. "Do you think they'll figure something out?" I asked, changing the subject. "I mean,  _honestly_. You've been here longer, you've seen them work."

"Abby and Raven have been working nonstop since we got here," he said. "They're going to figure something out."

The door opened and Clarke and Emori came in. "That smells amazing," Emori said. She walked over to kiss Murphy. I smiled softly. They were cute together. "What'd you make tonight?"

"Spaghetti Bolognese," he told her. "But it was actually Maia this time."

"You cook?" Clarke asked looking between us. "Are you any good?" Murphy offered her a spoon of sauce. She tasted it and let out a long sigh. "Okay, save me some of that. I'm coming back as soon as I get a shower."

I scooped up my plate. "I'll show you where your room is," I told her. "I'm about to head to bed anyway." I glanced back at Murphy as I walked away. "This was kinda fun. Tomorrow, same time, same place? I'm thinking...chicken parmesan?" He laughed and nodded.

"I never would've imagined you and Murphy as friends," Clarke said as we headed up the stairs. "But if it means I get more food like that, I'm all for it." I turned down the hall toward the bedrooms, my hair flying over my shoulder as I did. Clarke grabbed my arm. She frowned and turned me toward her, looking at my chest. "Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. "Roan did it earlier. It'll look nice when it's healed."

"Does Bellamy know you wanted an Azgeda scar?" Her tone was accusatory.

"I didn't know I wanted one until it happened," I said. I shook my arm free. "Anyway, I don't care if Bellamy likes it or not.  _I_  like it."

"Sorry," Clarke said, her tone softening. She shook her head. "You're right, it will look nice. Make sure you put a bandage on it so it doesn't get infected."

I pointed out her room and then headed to mine. "Maia," she called. I turned back. "I'm glad you're a part of this team. I would've missed having you." I nodded and headed into my room.

I finished my dinner and left the plate on the table, before flopping into bed. "And I thought my bed in Polis was nice," I whispered. I rolled over burrowing into the pillows. I was going to sleep like a rock tonight.

OoOoO

I woke up to a nock on my door. I rolled out of bed and went to answer it, not bothering to fix my messy hair. Roan raised an eyebrow when he saw me. "You really slept through all that," he said amazed.

"All what?" I frowned.

"Someone broke in, but Clarke and the others caught him," Roan explained. "I was out patrolling, so I missed it too."

"Wow, yeah, I was so exhausted." I ran a hand through my hair. "But now I'm clean, well fed, and well rested. I feel like a new person."

"Abby is testing a cure on the man they caught," he said. "If you want to be there, we're about to head to the lab."

I nodded. "I'll meet you guys there, I need to change."

When I made it down to the lab, everyone else had already gathered around. I found Raven first. She noticed me out of the corner of her eye and whirled around to hug me. "Maia, I'm so glad you're okay! I heard you got shot. I was worried about you. Then you didn't come home, and I knew you were safe but  _still._ Stop disappearing like that, okay?"

I laughed. "No more disappearing, I promise." I crossed my heart and Raven shook her head. "Forget about me, I'm fine now. It's  _you_  I'm worried about. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better after some rest," she said. "I'm trying to take it easy, which is really hard. But things are out of my hands now." I could see in Raven's eyes how exhausted and stressed she still was.

"Things are going to get better," I assured her, rubbing her arms. "Roan told me Abby is testing a new cure. I thought you couldn't make nightblood without going to space?"

Raven nodded and led me farther into the lab. "We can't manufacture it like we were planning, but a bone marrow transplant might work. Abby injected the thief they caught last night. We had to let it take affect, but it should be about time to test him."

I frowned. "What are you going to do, deep fry him in radiation?"

She looked at me for a moment and then nodded once. "It's the only way we can know for sure," she explained. "No one wants to do this, but we don't have a choice. Plus, Emori knew him. Apparently he's a pretty awful person." I nodded uncertainly. "I don't like it either."

"If he lives we're saved, but if he dies," I paused. "Then we're murders."

Raven laced her fingers through mine, as we watched Jackson turn on the radiation chamber. He eased it up slowly. "This is where we'd begin to see symptoms in non-nightbloods." We all watched with dread, but the grounder didn't so much as flinch.

Jackson turned the dial farther. "This is the same level as the black rain." Still nothing happened. I held my breath, afraid to celebrate too soon. Jackson turned the dial again; a moment later the heart rate monitor went nuts.

"Turn it off!" Abby shouted. Lesions formed on the grounder's body, and he began screaming. Raven dug her nails into my hand. I turned away, unable to watch anymore.

Finally the screaming stopped. I looked up to see the nightblood spattered radiation chamber. My stomach churned and I made a dash for the nearest trashcan. Raven was at my side in a moment, pulling back my hair and rubbing my back. "I need a minute," I told everyone. I made a dash for the stairs and went to the office upstairs.

Murphy came in a few minutes later. "I figured you'd want some water." He sat a glass on the table and started for the door. Before Murphy could rush out, he paused and looked back at me on the sofa. He made a slightly pained face, but came back to sit next to me.

"You don't have to stay with me, I'm fine," I insisted. Murphy glanced at the door, but made no move to leave. "Do I look like a sick puppy or something?"

Murphy laughed quietly. "Yeah, that's not far off. I'd get Raven, but she's running new calculations. Clarke is helping Abby, Miller is watching the door, and Roan is just standing there looking menacing." I laughed. "So, you're stuck with me."

Emori popped her head in. "I brought some leftover spaghetti if anyone's hungry." She didn't wait for an answer, just went over to one of the cabinets that hid a microwave and heated the bowl up. She leaned against the wall, looking at us. "I'll admit, that was brutal, but better him than us." I raised an eyebrow. Emori quickly added, "I only mean, I'm glad it wasn't me in there. Or John. I'm sure you feel the same."

I scrunched my mouth to the side. "Well, yeah. I'd rather not die coughing up blood, but that was awful." I shook my head. "There's got to be simulations Abby can run, right? Or lab rats or something?" I looked between Murphy and Emori but they both shrugged.

The microwave dinged and Emori grabbed the spaghetti. She offered it to us, but we both shook our heads. She shrugged and dug in. "This is good by the way, Maia. You guys could make a fortune selling this stuff in Polis."

"If there's even a Polis left in a week," Murphy muttered.

"Guys!" Clarke shouted up the stairs. Murphy rolled his eyes, but we all got up and headed downstairs. "They found something."

"There's a chance this could still work," Abby explained as we joined them. "But not without testing."

"The last guy just died screaming in agony and you want to do it again?" Raven asked, her voice rising.

"Give us a better idea, Raven," Clarke said shaking her head. "Please."

"Where are we going to get another test subject?" I asked. "It started raining. For now it's only water, but who knows when the black rain will start up. None of us can leave. Even if we could, you would  _really_  steal someone away from their family with no remorse? That doesn't make us heroes, it makes us serial killers."

"Maia is right. Who are we to decide who lives or dies?" Luna asked. "Even Baylis honored the dead. He wore the stones of his Rock Line ancestors." She held up a bracelet that they must have found on the grounder's body. "Who will honor him?"

Next to me Emori and Murphy tensed up. I frowned, realizing I must have missed something from the night before. "Wait, Baylis was Sangedakru," Clarke realized.

"He was, and he was also a thief," Emori spoke up. "He probably stole those stones."

"He doesn't bare the mark of Sangedakru," Roan said. We all looked at Emori. Her breathing was shallow, like a caged animal. She darted past me, knocking me aside. Emori reached for an IV pole, but Roan grabbed her before she could smash the radiation chamber.

Murphy started for the machine, but Miller drew his pistol. "We can tie them up in the launch bay," he said. In an instant everyone was moving Miller and Roan pushed Murphy and Emori through the sliding doors. They bound their wrists to the rocket.

"She was only trying to save her own life!" Murphy shouted, struggling against his ropes as Miller turned away. "You can't let them do this to us!" Miller closed the doors, muffling Murphy's shouts.

I looked around the room. No one moved. Everyone was wearing identical looks of shock. I wasn't sure what we were more surprised about, that Emori had lied, or that we'd just tied up our friends. "Please tell me you aren't considering testing Emori," I said quietly.

Clarke wouldn't meet my eyes. She turned away from me. "I don't know what else to do," she said to Abby.

"There is nothing else to do," Roan said. "This is our only choice."

"Abby, there has to be something else that won't make us murders," Raven pressed.

We all looked at Abby expectantly. She sighed. "All we know for sure is that if we don't do something, we die." Clarke nodded. "Jackson, prep Luna for the next extraction."

"No," Luna said firmly. "You've taken enough. I won't let my blood be used to kill any more innocent people." She turned away and headed for the steps, but Roan stepped in front of her.

My heart started pounding in my chest. Even though it wasn't me who was boxed in, I still felt like a caged animal. In Mount Weather, they'd locked us up and called us their saviors. Just like we were doing with Luna right now.

Luna attempted to fight Roan. She got in a few good hits, but she was already injured. My breathing grew shallow. The more I gasped for air, the less I got. My vision started to go spotty. Raven grabbed my arms, barely catching me before I fell. I knew she was talking to me, but I felt like my ears were stuffed with cotton.

Abby and Miller grabbed me, and helped me up stairs with Raven on their heels. I dropped down on the couch. Abby knelt down beside me and took my hands. "Maia, I need you to breathe with me. Deep breaths, in and out." As I slowed my breathing, I felt better. Raven rubbed my back reassuringly. "Drink some water and get some rest, you'll be fine."

Abby and Miller returned downstairs, leaving me in Raven's care. "Are you okay?" She asked concerned. "What happened?"

"Panic attack," I told Raven. "I've had them since Mount Weather, but not too often thankfully. Mostly it's just the nightmares and the insomnia, which isn't great either. But, my anxiety has been bad today." I shook my head. "What happened downstairs? Is Luna alright?"

"Roan knocked her out," she told me. I put my head in my hands. Raven leaned on my shoulder. "You're okay, Maia. You're safe. Maybe a nap will help? I don't think you should come back downstairs." I nodded. Raven arranged some pillows and then laid me down. She draped my jacket over me, and then leaned down to give me one last hug. "Yell if you need something, I'll come back up, okay?"

My panic attack had taken so much out of me that I was asleep within a few moments. But my sleep wasn't restful. I tossed and turned; nightmares of Mount Weather bombarded me. More than the usual reoccurring dream, these were almost flashbacks. But the people seemed scarier, the needles were larger, the pain was worse.

I woke up with a start. Roan was sitting on the armrest near my feet. I kicked my legs off the couch and he slid down to sit next to me. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know that must have been hard for you to watch." He knew about my nightmares, he knew how much Mount Weather still haunted me.

I shook my head. "At first we were treated like friends. But I always knew the ultimatum was coming: Volunteer or you will be volunteered. That's exactly what we're doing to Luna, strapping her down, taking her blood and her bone marrow against her will. And Emori? She doesn't deserve to be a lab rat, to die for  _nothing_."

"It might work, we can't be sure," he hedged. "If it works, we can save everyone."

"It's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission," I muttered. I looked at him for a moment. "But what if it doesn't work and she dies?"

Roan crossed his arms. "Then we all die. But we die knowing we did everything we could to save our people."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," I informed him.

He smirked. "Comforting people really isn't my strong suit."

I lay my head on his shoulder. "Thanks for trying."


	39. Chapter 39

I wasn’t sure how long we’d sat there in silence. There was nothing Roan could say to fix this, and nothing I could say that would change anyone’s minds. “It’s time!” Clarke called. Roan stood up, and I watched him leave.

I remembered what Emori had said before, “better him than us.” She didn’t seem like the sort of person to do any big sweeping gestures to save the world. But, who could blame her. The world hadn’t done anything for her. Now here it was again, dealing her another shitty hand. Just because Emori didn’t want to save the world, didn’t mean she wasn’t worth saving.

I jogged downstairs. I could hear Murphy shouting before I even got to the launch bay. “Stop!” I called. Everyone turned to look at me. “Don’t touch her. I’ll do it.” No one said anything. I held out my arm. “Test me, not her.”

“Maia, I’m not going to do that,” Clarke said calmly.

“If you’re so sure it’s going to work, then test me!” I shouted. I backed into the main room and glanced around. My eyes landed on the syringe of bone marrow, ready to go. I made a dash for it, but Miller was just as fast as me. He grabbed my arms and pulled me back. “Let me do this!”

“I can’t.” I barely had time to register what was happening, as he stabbed me in the neck with the sedative meant for Emori. My muscles went limp first, and then I blacked out.

OoOoO

When I woke up, I was in the office again. “Wow, I’m really fucking tired of this room.” Miller glanced over at me. I tried to sit up and realized I was handcuffed to the table behind me. “You have got to be kidding me.”

He moved toward me. “Yeah, we don’t need these anymore, it’s too late.” He unlocked the cuffs and I sat up slowly.

“I don’t understand, Miller. You of all people?” I shook my head. “You were in Mount Weather, they used you same as they used me. How could you do that to someone else?”

“What they did to us in Mount Weather was to save the lives of a few hundred,” he said. “We were trying to save the lives of thousands. And this wasn’t only for our people. It was for everyone. I would think you would understand sacrifice after all this time.”

“I do,” I said angrily. “And I was willing to sacrifice myself. That’s more than the rest of you can say.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Miller said. “It’s over.”

“It worked?” I asked surprised.

He let out a long sigh. “We’ll never know. I guess your stunt inspired Clarke. She injected herself instead of Emori. Abby freaked out and destroyed the radiation chamber. No more tests.”

I let out a breath that was half sigh of relief, and half a sputter of disbelief. No one was dead right this moment, but now we were in an even worse position. “I’m going downstairs,” I told him.

Before I could head for the door, he grabbed my arm. “Maia, listen. I didn’t want to kill Emori, okay? But I couldn’t lose you. You’re the closest thing I have to a sister. And I like taking orders from you a hell of a lot more than I like taking orders from Clarke.”

I gave him a soft smile and pulled him into a hug. “I love you, but for future reference, if I’m shouting it’s probably an order. I’d die for you all. If it ever comes to that again, let me do it.”

OoOoO

We were returning to the mainland. Kane radioed from Polis. They’d found a bunker, for once Jaha’s crazy conspiracies paid off. 1,200 people were going to survive praimfaya.

I packed everything I could fit in two and a half backpacks. How I was going to carry two and a half backpacks through Polis was beyond me. But that was a problem for another day. I was not leaving all these clothes behind. And in my defense, I planned on sharing them with Raven and Harper.

Roan shook his head as I lugged the bags to the boat. I tossed them onboard and then hopped back onto land to say my goodbyes to Raven. She was staying behind with Murphy and Emori to pack up the rest of the tech. “I could stay here,” I offered.

“No, you definitely need to get back to Polis with your man candy.” She wiggled her eyebrows as Roan walked by.

I covered her mouth with my hand. “Raven, oh my god. It’s not like that. We’re  _friends_.” She shook me off.

“Does he know that? Because…” she tapped the bandage on my chest covering the healing scar. “I’m just saying. Bellamy could’ve come here, but he didn’t. None of us knew for sure if we’d see each other again. He chose to run after Octavia instead of staying with you.”

“She’s his sister, I don’t blame him-“

“Maia, she’s made it very clear she isn’t forgiving him any time soon.” Raven put both her hands on my shoulders. “You have put up with so much for him, and he can’t even give you the time of day when the world is about to end? You deserve better.”

“I’ll always come in second place to Octavia,” I stated. It was something I’d always known and had demonstrated in graphic detail when he’d turned me in on the Ark. I’d learned to live with it. “And with Roan, I’d always come in second place to Azgeda.” I paused. “Not that this is a relationship that is going  _anywhere_.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe, but maybe not. You’ve said it: we’re all grounders now. Who says you can’t be one of them?”

I shook my head. “Can we talk about this  _after_  the world ends?” She sighed but gave me a hug. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Emori and Murphy were standing by the boat, helping load up the last few things. “You know what would make living in a bunker super cool? If you made a casserole for our own personal housewarming party,” I whispered.

Murphy laughed. “I’m on it, but only if you get some moonshine from Jasper and Monty.”

“Oh, obviously. What kind of housewarming party doesn’t have moonshine?” I grinned.

Emori touched my arm lightly. Her face was serious. “I heard that you tried to volunteer for me. I just wanted to say thanks.”

“Who were we to force someone into something we wouldn’t do it ourselves?” I shrugged. “It was the right thing to do. Or try to do at least.”

“If you ever need us to back you on something, we’ll do it,” she said. “Between you and Clarke, I’d trust you to make the right decision.” She gave me an awkward one-armed hug, but the sentiment was genuine.

Emori and Murphy started to turn away, but I grabbed Murphy’s arm. “Hey, watch out for Raven okay? I’m worried about her.”

“Yeah, of course. Abby left a seizure kit, we’ll make sure Raven makes it to Polis in one piece.” I squeezed his arm and then let him get back to work.

Miller helped me onto the boat. “Has the queen said her goodbyes and given her final orders to all her subjects?”

I smacked him in the chest. “Shut up, Miller.”

He smirked. “We were waiting on you, let’s go.”

I leaned on the rail of the boat as we pulled away from the dock. “Damn it, I never got to go in the pool.”

OoOoO

Once we hit land, we loaded everything into the truck and headed for Polis. It was a long ride, and I ended up dozing off on my pile of clothes-stuffed backpacks. I woke up when the truck came to a halt.

I shoved the bags out and then jumped to the ground next to me. Clarke started to stand up, but Abby grabbed her arm. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She looked at me for a moment, like she was about to bring me in on the secret. Then she glanced at Roan who was by my side. “We’ll be right behind you,” she told me.

I frowned as I walked around the side of the truck. I stopped at the driver’s window and stood on my tiptoes to look into the window. “See you later, Miller. Try not to miss me too much.” He grunted. “You can pretend you’re super tough all you want, but I  _know_.” Jackson laughed quietly in the passenger seat. Miller gave me an embarrassed look. I stepped away, taking the hint.

I walked toward the tunnel with Roan, while Miller and Jackson started unloading the truck. “I hope Jaha doesn’t think he’s in charge just because he found the bunker. He better not do room assignments, I’m not letting him pick my home for the foreseeable future. Been there, done that.” Roan raised an eyebrow. “Listen, I’m picky, okay?”

“Trust me, I’ll scope it out and find the best spot. We’ll be neighbors. It’ll be great. Like that show Friends. You ever see that?” I shook my head. “Of course you haven’t. Maybe the bunker has dvds.”

Kane stepped forward from the trees. He held up a hand for Miller and Jackson to pause. Roan and I exchanged confused looks. “Where’s the guard?” I asked.

“In Arkadia gathering the rest of our people,” he told me. He looked to Roan, “Listen-“

“Roan, wait!” Clarke called from behind us. We stopped in our tracks, not sure where to look. Behind Kane, several Trikru warriors appeared. Roan drew his sword.

“There doesn’t have to be any violence-“ Kane started. Before anyone could move, arrows flew from the trees taking the Trikru warriors out. I dropped to the ground, on instinct. I’d barely had the chance to register what had happened before Azgeda warriors descended.

I whipped around, watching, as my friends were pushed to the ground and bound by Azgeda. I glanced up at Roan, who looked nearly as confused as I felt. “Welcome back to Polis, my king.” We both turned to see Echo standing on the treeline. She walked toward us.

I was still on the ground; afraid I’d get tackled the moment I stood up. Echo offered me a hand. I took it and let her pull me up to my feet. “They had orders not to shoot you, but good reflexes.” She stepped back and headed toward the tunnels. “Let’s move.”

OoOoO

In the tunnels we were separated from the rest of my friends. They were taken somewhere, presumably the single cell room they called a dungeon. I followed Echo and Roan into the tower. None of the Azgeda warriors questioned me. I’d earned their King’s respect, and apparently Echo’s too. I guess that was enough for them.

“Bring me Wanheda!” Roan called, earning a disapproving look from Echo. He turned back to her. “Explain.”

“Skaikru allied with Trikru to take the temple, they gave up the tower to do it,” Echo told him. “Strategically that made no sense, so I moved our army to the temple doors. Good thing I did.”

“You did good, Echo,” Roan told her. Echo looked pleased for a millisecond before the doors opened and Clarke was brought in. “Leave us,” he said, waving Echo away.

Roan pulled the gag out of Clarke’s mouth. “How long have you known?”

“I just found out,” she insisted. So that was what Abby had wanted to tell her. No wonder she hadn’t told me too.

Roan cut Clarke free. I leaned against the table. “We’ve got the leverage here,” I noted. “Azgeda has the temple surrounded. No one gets into that bunker without a fight. We call a meeting talk it out? Indra has to see there’s room enough to share.”

“I’m sure your Chancellor tried that before letting them assassinate me,” Roan muttered.

“Kane was trying to save your life,” Clarke protested.

“Mine maybe, but what about my people’s?” I gave him a look. “Fine, we try it your way first. But, I’m holding your people.”

“Kane needs to be at that meeting,” Clarke said. “He’s the Chancellor.”

Roan motioned toward me. “Maia is his second. She’ll do.” Clarke and I shared slightly panicked looks. “Besides, if anyone can convince mortal enemies to live together for five years, it’ll be the two of you.” He walked toward the door. “I’ll call the meeting.”

“I’ve had a week of training,” I whispered.

Clarke put her hand on my shoulder. “Being a leader is 80% natural talent, you’ve got that.”

I shook my head. “It’s the other 20% I’m worried about.”


End file.
